Draw the Line Against Malaria

Malaria is the world’s oldest and deadliest disease and kills a child every two minutes. In 2020 the case for action became even more critical with predictions by the World Health Organisation that the pandemic could cause deaths related to malaria to double. Our research showed that we had to tackle normalised attitudes towards malaria and remind heads of state of their commitment at the Commonwealth Summit to halve malaria by 2023. With over 100 global volunteers, Dentsu International worked with Malaria No More UK to create the ‘Draw the Line Against Malaria’ campaign to start a movement that would raise awareness, galvanise communities, and influence world leaders to take action to end malaria by 2030. The campaign was launched globally on World Malaria Day in April 2021. The “Muundo”, inspired by the traditional African line painting, was used in the creation of a digital platform that allowed people to add their personalised message to a global mural. Dentsu teams worked with media partners to unlock over $3million in pro bono media space. As of September 2021, the campaign has reached over 441 million people. The campaign was included in policy discussions in Rwanda, Zambia and Kenya. 76 governments and NGOs used the campaign on World Malaria Day, creating a global call to end malaria. Even in a year dominated by COVID-19, leaders listened, established a principle of reporting on malaria elimination process within the Commonwealth and reaffirmed their commitment to halving malaria by 2023 and ending it by 2030.