ExxonMobil’s Anti-malaria Campaign Gulps $37.4 million In 20 Years

ExxonMobil Foundation, in collaboration with ExxonMobil affiliate companies in Nigeria, on Monday announced new support for partner organizations committed to ending malaria.  It said the grants, among other scheduled activities for World Malaria Day, would mark the 20th anniversary of ExxonMobil’s support for programs  designed to reduce the burden of malaria in Nigeria.

”For the past 20 years, ExxonMobil’s Malaria Initiative has provided more than $37.4 million (over N15 billion) in cash grants to partners working to develop community-based solutions in Nigeria,” a statement made available to Prime Business Africa by the Manager, Corporate Communications at ExxonMobil, Oge Udeagha,  revealed.

According to the statement, ”Continuing this legacy, ExxonMobil has announced its 2022 grant recipients, including:

• PanAfricare, in conjunction with NBA Power Forward, to foster the development of youth in Nigeria through sports, life skills and malaria education.
• Grassroot Soccer, to use the convening power of soccer to increase awareness of malaria and HIV/AIDS among young people across Nigeria through sports curriculum.
• Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, to advance scientific knowledge and understanding to advance progress toward the eradication of malaria.

According to Richard Laing, who chairs  all ExxonMobil’s  affiliate Companies in Nigeria, “This World Malaria Day, we mark ExxonMobil’s contributions over the past two decades that have helped equip and strengthen resilience within our communities to fight against malaria.

”Thanks to these efforts, Nigeria is better prepared to continue the progress we have made and work toward a malaria-free future.”

ExxonMobil’s Malaria Initiative works with nonprofit partners and leading global health organizations to advance progress against the disease in malaria-endemic countries by supporting malaria education and awareness, improving access to tools for prevention, diagnosis and treatment, strengthening health infrastructure and advancing research and innovation. The initiative continues to support malaria prevention and control programs in Nigeria, a country which currently accounts for more than one quarter of the global burden of the disease.

In honor of World Malaria Day, these partners are focused on leveraging the power of sports and media to reach Nigerian youth, through malaria-themed tournaments and creative radio, television and school-based malaria campaigns, among other activities.

“The prospect of a malaria-free world is in the hands of our youth,” said Kevin Murphy, president of the ExxonMobil Foundation. “We’re proud to support programs that not only protect the youth of Nigeria from malaria but empower them to become the next generation of leaders in the fight against this deadly disease.”