Malaria fight backed by England’s football stars

They came face-to-face with the risks themselves during the 2014 World Cup when doctors prescribed them malaria prevention and treatment malarone, but now he England football team have thrown their backing behind the worldwide fight against the deadly disease malaria – a disease that astonishingly claims the life of a child every thirty seconds.

Back in 2007 the England Footballer’s Foundation (EFF) was established on behalf of the England football team, after their generous decision to donate all match fees and time to chosen charities.
Since the foundation began, the EFF has helped to raise more than £3.5million, been responsible for over 150 player appearances, generated three national advertising campaigns and created exclusive EFF events.

And now England stars such as Wayne Rooney and Joe Hart have partnered with Unicef – the world’s leading children’s organisation – in an effort to raise awareness and funds about the danger that malaria poses and the absolute importance of sleeping under mosquito nets for those at risk.

Those most vulnerable are the poorest children in Africa. According to the World Health Organization, in 2012, malaria caused an estimated 627 000 deaths (with an uncertainty range of 473 000 to 789 000), the majority of these being among African children.

To help launch the four-year partnership with Unicef to battle malaria, Rooney and Hart are featured in a poster, together with teammates Gary Cahill and Jack Wilshere, walking hand in hand with schoolchildren.

Globally, malaria is still the third single biggest killer of children, but sleeping under a mosquito net can help to save lives, and this is one important point that the campaign hopes to make at-risk people aware of.

A fundraising evening is taking place later today in London, which is expected to feature a number of England players, such as Danny Welbeck, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Jack Wilshere, who will be in charge of teams facing each other for the coveted EFF Charity Cup.

The Three Lions’ skipper Rooney commented on the campaign, saying: “It’s unbelievable that every 90 minutes – the time it takes to play a football match – 180 children will lose their lives to malaria. As captain of the England football team I am hugely proud that we are able to help Unicef in its goal of protecting every child in danger from this disease.”

Backing up Rooney’s comments, England goalkeeper Hart said: “I am used to defending my goal net against some of the best players in the world, but for some children, being able to sleep under a life-saving mosquito net can mean the last line of defence from this deadly disease. I have always been a huge fan of Unicef’s work so it’s really amazing that through our Foundation we can help make a difference to the lives of some of the world’s most vulnerable children.”

Unicef UK Executive Director David Bull said: “The simplest way to keep children safe from malaria is to ensure that they sleep under a mosquito net, but many are still living without this basic life-saving need. The faces of the England football team are some of the most recognisable in the country so it is great to have them on board to help us raise awareness to tackle malaria and protect all those children in danger.”

Computer game controllers are ‘five times dirtier than a toilet seat’

If somebody was to ask you what you would think is the dirtiest place or item in your house, a place that harbours the most bacteria, you’d be forgiven for assuming it is the toilet area in your bathroom.

In fact, day-to-day chores such as sorting the dirty laundry, taking out the bins and scrubbing the bathroom can leave us grubby and reaching for the hand wash.

Surprisingly though, there are some unlikely things in the home that can spread large amounts of bacteria, according to new research.

The study, conducted by Domestos and Unicef, found that although almost third of people believe it is the toilet seat that is the grubbiest place in the home, high contaminated things are actually more likely to be things such as computer games controllers, toys and even the arms of your sofas.

The researchers involved in the study decided to swab different areas of a typical average house to test for bacteria including E. coli, APC and Enterobacteriaceae.

On average, it was determined that the average toilet seat has around 1,600 germs per 100 cm2, but there were a significantly higher number of germs found on children’s play equipment.

The most bacteria-laden object in most homes is actually the garden trampoline, researchers discovered. With bacteria levels of around 640,000 per 100cm2, they are the worst offenders for germs. Also in the garden area, bikes and balls both had around 14,000 per 100cm2.

In what is shockingly nearly fives that of an average toilet seat, it was found that a typical games controller remarkably has about 7,863 germs per 100cm2. This is almost the same as an average fridge handle, which clocks up roughly 7,474 germs per 100cm2.

Results from the study also show that three out of five people are under the assumption that children pick up germs primarily at nursery or school. The study authors however say that we should be more cautious of germs on our sofas, with a staggering 12 times more germs on the arms of a sofa than on the average toilet seat.

Environmental health expert Dr Lisa Ackerley said: “Hand washing is probably the most cost-effective and simple way to reduce disease, whether in the UK or in the rest of the world. Literally, our safety, and that of others, is in our hands. By making sure we have clean hands, we prevent passing our germs on to others and we also make sure we don’t get sick from infections left behind by other people.”

Clemence Brunet from Domestos, added: “It’s alarming to see that despite the care we give our favourite toys and household items, they’re still grubbier than the average toilet seat.”