Press Release
19 May 2008
Hollywood actress Ashley Judd visits UK-funded aid projects in DR Congo
Hollywood actress and
 YouthAIDS Ambassador Ashley Judd spoke out against malaria during a
visit to UK government-funded malaria programmes in the
Democratic Republic of
Congo.
Ashley Judd said:
"If children slept safely under bed nets at night millions of lives would be
saved every year. The UK’s Department for International Development has already
provided three million bed nets for families in the DR Congo saving double the
number of lives. Everyone in Africa should have the right to this simple,
lifesaving device."
Malaria is the number one killer of children under five in the DR
Congo and is caused by a single mosquito bite. More than three million bed nets
from the UK’s Department for International Development are helping women and
children to sleep safely at night protected from the mosquitoes carrying a
disease that kills up to a million people in the country every year.
Notes to Editors
1. Ashley Judd travelled to Kinshasa in the DR Congo on a trip organised by
Population Services International (PSI) who are funded by the UK Department for
International Development. Attached photo courtesy of PSI.
2. DFID’s total contribution to Population Services International (PSI) globally in
2006/7 was £15.8 million. For more information about
PSI.
3. The UK Department for International Development (DFID) is the British
government’s aid agency fighting global poverty. DFID estimates that its aid
lifts three million people permanently out of poverty every year.
4. In the DR Congo, DFID is providing £17 million to PSI between 2002-2008 to
fight malaria in the DR Congo.
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