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Giving Compass' Take:
• Global Citizen discusses Walt Disney's 1943 short film, The Winged Scourge, and explains that it's an excellent way to educate the public about malaria and how to prevent it.
• How can donors support efforts to eradicate malaria in areas where healthcare access is minimal? Which are the most effective interventions and how can they be scaled?
• Learn how infrastructure improvements can eliminate malaria around the world.
In 1943, Walt Disney created The Winged Scourge, a 10-minute animated video, that is an in-depth look into how malaria spreads and ways that people can prevent it. Although it’s almost 75 years old, it is still more than relevant today.
It’s a beautifully crafted, black-and-white video with hand-drawn animations. Disney takes us through the whole process of how malaria is contracted with a voice-of-god narration, starting with the Anopheles mosquito, the primary carrier of malaria. The short film has an eerie, film-noir feel, similar to The Twilight Zone. Near the end, the narrator reminds us to “remember, there is only one cause of malaria, the mosquito. Destroy the mosquito and you will wipe out the disease.”
But to add a lighthearted touch, Disney introduces the Seven Dwarfs as a team of fighters to combat the mosquitos.
“We can start by cutting the weeds where the mosquito lays her eggs,” says the narrator, so that the fish can get to more larvae and eat them. (An outdated piece of advice, however, is to pour oil on the water, preventing larvae from hatching.)
The narrator goes into detail about how to use screens, and how important it is to get rid of still water.
Read the full article about the animated film about malaria by Dana Brandes-Simon at Global Citizen.