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Beckham urges UK to hit malaria net target

  • Story Highlights
  • Sports stars meet British PM Gordon Brown in London to talk malaria nets
  • David Beckham, Andy Murray and Denise Lewis reminded Brown of pledge
  • Britain has promised to deliver 20 million malaria nets to Africa by 2010
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(CNN) -- David Beckham and Andy Murray are usually more preoccupied with football and tennis nets, but on Monday they met UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown in London to discuss malaria nets.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown is flanked by Beckham and Lewis with Murray on the left.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown is flanked by Beckham and Lewis with Murray on the left.

Along with former Olympic champion Denise Lewis, they went to Downing Street to remind Brown of Britain's promise to deliver 20 million of the nets to Africa by 2010.

The sports icons have been named as members of the leadership council of new campaign group Malaria No More UK and were helping to mark its launch.

"For less than the cost of a football you can protect a family from dying," said Beckham. "I urge the UK public to get behind the Malaria No More UK campaign to save a life and make malaria no more."

England and AC Milan star Beckham, who hopes to be in South Africa next year for the World Cup finals, posed for pictures outside No. 10 where the front door was draped in a malaria net.

"For less than the cost of a football you can protect a family from dying," he said. "I urge the UK public to get behind the Malaria No More UK campaign to save a life and make malaria no more."

World fourth-ranked tennis ace Murray said: "This is the first global charity I've been involved with in this capacity and it was an easy decision.

"Malaria is completely preventable and stoppable but yet it still kills more children in Africa than any other single disease."

A year after making the pledge, Britain has delivered some 9.7 million nets to Africa, and a further 1.9 million are on order.

Malaria No More UK wants to ensure the Government meets its promise in full as its share of a total of 100 million nets.

Around 90 percent of the one million deaths from malaria each year are in Africa, where the disease kills a child every 30 seconds. A single net can protect a mother and child or brother and sister for up to five years.

Malaria No More UK executive director Sarah Kline said: "Malaria No More UK is launching a mass campaign to help stop the suffering and death caused by malaria.

"Our first mission is to help reach the United Nations target of getting everyone at risk in Africa under a bed net by the end of 2010.

"We are delighted the prime minister has announced today that the UK is has already delivered 9.3 million nets of the 20 million pledged and look forward to seeing the rest delivered on time.

"We are calling on him to press other EU and G8 governments to deliver their share of the 100 million bed nets they promised last year."

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