YLS Students To Host Global Videoconference on Ending Malaria

On January 25, Americans for Informed Democracy at Yale Law School will host a global videoconference entitled “Veto the ’Squito: How We Can Work Together to End Malaria.” The event will link students in a live, direct dialogue with young leaders in other countries including Benin, Ghana, and Ecuador. The videoconference will take place from 10:00-11:30 a.m. in Room 108 of Yale Law School.

Primarily a threat to populations of tropical countries, malaria infects more than 300 million people each year, despite the fact that the mosquito-borne disease can be effectively prevented with a simple $10 bed-net treated with insecticide. The videoconference seeks to bring attention to “Veto the ’Squito,” a grassroots, student-led campaign to end malaria that began in October 2006. To date, more than 40 universities and high schools have created "Veto the ’Squito" SWAT TEAMs (Students Working at Teammates to Engage Against Malaria), raising money for bed-nets through pajama parties, town hall meetings, concerts, and even a youth action night at an NBA game.

The January 25 videoconference will allow young Americans to talk “face-to-face” via live video with citizens of African and Latin American countries about the threat posed by malaria and how fundraising efforts in the U.S. have directly impacted malaria prevention on the ground. It will open with presentations by Scott Case, Chief Operating Officer, Malaria No More; Dr. George Dimopoulos, Professor, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins; and Dr. Daniel Hussar, Professor, University of the Sciences in Philadelphia. Participants around the world will then have an opportunity for interactive dialogue.

The event is sponsored by the Yale Law School chapter of Americans for Informed Democracy (AID), a non-partisan organization inspiring young people to take up today’s global challenges— climate change, poverty, AIDS, terrorism and violent conflict—as the special mission of their generation. The AID Chapter at Yale Law School is part of a network that includes more than 15,000 student leaders on 1,000 university campuses.