A tsunami every month

"If rich and poor countries will follow through on the promises they have made over the past five years to fight extreme poverty and disease -- and rely on the best science and technology in doing so -- the world can save millions of lives and extricate hundreds of millions of its poorest people from the trap of extreme poverty. The cost is a mere 50 cents out of every $100 of rich-world income in the coming decade."

Let me get your attention. Every month, 150,000 African children are killed by the entirely preventable disease known as malaria. 150,000 children a month, that's roughly 1.8 million children a year. Hard to fathom, right? What's even harder to fathom is that those deaths do not sear the public's mind and that they go largely unnoticed. No ex-American presidents lead a fundraising campaign. President Bush doesn't call on cash donations from the public. Children die and we do nowhere near enough.

A solution would be simple. Much of Africa could be saved by a bunch of $5 mosquito nets used throughout rural areas and a $1 dose of medicine for those cases that still happened even with the nets. It is estimated that the contribution of $2 for every citizen in the industrialized world would lead to the eventual eradication of malaria.

I'm in.