Tom Cavanagh meets members of a Somali refugee youth group who encourage their communities to use bed nets. © UNHCR/V.Akello

Canadian actor Tom Cavanaugh is one of many public figures who support UNHCR’s campaign to stamp out malaria. He spent several days in Nakivale Refugee camp in Uganda on behalf of a UNHCR partner, Nothing but Nets, helping distribute 800 insecticide-treated nets to refugees from the Congo, Rwanda, Somalia and the Sudan.

Tom Cavanaugh was born in Ottawa but his family also lived in Ghana, where he contracted malaria as a child. He has appeared in many US and Canadian TV dramas, but found this chance to raise awareness of malaria prevention for refugees to be one of his most important roles. “It is shocking” he says, “that malaria still is the major killer of refugees, especially children, even today.” For each $10 donation, UNHCR can provide one long-lasting bed net to protect 2 people.

Cavanagh and DeGraw, an award-winning American singer and musician, toured Nakivale and Oruchinga with assistance from the UN refugee agency during a five-day visit to Uganda, which wrapped up last Friday. The two settlements are home to some 50,000 refugees, mainly from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, Somalia and the Sudan.

Of the millions of people of concern to the UNHCR, two thirds live in malaria endemic areas. UNHCR estimates that about 930,000 refugees are infected with malaria every year in Africa. Children are particularly vulnerable. Last year, Uganda had the highest death rate from malaria among children under five years of age. In Nakivale, more than 4,000 children aged under five are treated for malaria every month.

"We have to continue to raise funding for mosquito nets for all refugees," said DeGraw, referring to the UN Foundation's "Nothing But Nets" campaign, which last year formed a partnership with UNHCR to eliminate malaria deaths in refugee camps.

"Refugees in these camps have survived losing their homes, violence and genocide – they should not then die of a mosquito bite," Nothing But Nets Executive Director Elizabeth Gore said in a press statement. "We know Gavin and Tom's supporters will provide funds to provide life-saving bed nets."

The campaign hopes to distribute 257,600 nets for more than half-a-million refugees in Uganda, Kenya, Sudan and Tanzania. One net, which can protect two people, costs US$10 to purchase, distribute and educate families on its use.

UNHCR cares for some 152,000 refugees in Uganda, including 47,000 in Nakivale and some 2,200 in Oruchinga. Last year, Nothing But Nets gave UNHCR 37,500 mosquito nets for distribution to newly arrived Congolese refugees.