'Buzzkill' T-shirts promote anti-malaria campaign

By United Methodist News Service

"Malaria kills. Send a net. Save a life." That's the message on the back of a new T-shirt for the Nothing But Nets campaign, an effort aimed at preventing malaria-related deaths in Africa.

The sale of each $20 shirt will also result in the purchase of an insecticide-treated bed net that will be distributed to a family in Africa. One net can protect a family of four from mosquito bites for up to four years. Nocturnal mosquito bites are the primary means by which the disease is transmitted.

Nothing But Nets is a partnership of the people of The United Methodist Church, NBA Cares, Sports Illustrated, the United Nations Foundation and others. The campaign, inspired by a Sports Illustrated column by Rick Reilly, is raising money to buy and distribute bed nets to families across Africa.

More than a million people die each year from malaria. Most of the victims are African children under the age of 5.

United Methodist leaders are encouraging church members - especially youth - to support the campaign. One bed net costs only $10.

The Nothing But Nets T-shirt, developed by the U.N. Foundation, features a mosquito illustration on the front and the word "Buzzkill." The pumpkin-colored shirts are half-cotton and half-polyester. Details are available at https://secure.umcom.org/store/Dept.asp?Cat%5FID=219&web%5Fname=Nothing+But+Nets.

For more information on Nothing But Nets, go to www.NothingButNets.net or www.umc.org.