1D fights malaria in children due to a humbling experience in Ghana while filming parts of their documentary “One Direction: A Year in the Making”. Many of the boys broke down and cried at the circumstances faced by those in poverty. Harry Styles and Liam Payne visited the Princess Marie Louise Children’s Hospital’s clinic and saw the devastating affects the parasitic blood-disease (malaria) has on young infants first-hand. The other boys, Zayn Malik, Niall Horan, and Louis Tomlinson, also experienced children fighting for life in the upstairs section of the hospital during the trip. The boys’ experiences with these children led them to a commitment to fight for the end of malaria through vaccinations.
1D fights malaria in children after having personal experiences with various Ghanaians. For example, Kofi was a three-year-old boy that was brought into the clinic, and was diagnosed with severe malaria and was too weak to even cry. This type of infectious disease is easily preventable through vaccinations. It can also be resolved through mosquito nets or emergency medicine; $7.50 covers the cost of saving a child’s life. One Direction officially supports the charity Comic Relief’s program, Red Nose Day. This program helps fund GAVI, a non-profit dedicating to the spread of vaccinations in poor countries.
Finally, 1D fights Malaria in children by asking their fans for help; both to fund-raise and to donate to Red Nose Day whatever money they can. Zayn commented, “We all waste money on stupid things but surely the most important thing we can spend a few pounds on is protecting children from these preventable illnesses.” Fans can share their fundraising efforts on Twitter using the hash tag: #1D4RND. One Direction supports the end of global poverty and global disease, and encourages the spread of global education. They want to spread the use of vaccinations of multiple, easily preventable illnesses; this includes malaria, but also includes the rotavirus vaccination for diarrhoea. This can be done through a variety of charities, not only Comic Relief.
Watch Liam Payne and Harry Styles witnessing the effects of malaria and pleading for help in this video.
– Corina Balsamo
Sources: Red Nose Day, The Sun, Perez Hilton
Photo: Palmer Way