The Against Malaria Foundation (AMF) is a British charity that provides funding for mass distribution of long-lasting insecticide-treated nets (LLINs) to populations at high risk of malaria.
History
In June 2003, Rob Mather, a strategy consultant based in London, decided to organize a swim with two of his friends to raise funds for a girl who had suffered severe burns in a house fire. Over the following months, Mather’s initiative grew in size and scope, eventually leading to the creation of World Swim Against Malaria (WSAM), which organized a quarter of a million swims in around 160 countries. In August 2004, Mather set up AMF to handle the money raised through WSAM and to raise funds in ways other than swimming.[1][2]
AMF continues to operate mostly as it did when it first launched. Although registered as a charity in 12 countries, AMF has no offices, but is run from the back room of Mather’s house.[3]
Activities
In addition to funding distribution of nets, AMF has more recently supported research on piperonyl butoxide (PBO) nets, a new type of LLIN.[4] Mosquito populations appear to have become more resistant to standard insecticides. According to GiveWell’s rough estimates, this resistance has reduced the effectiveness of insecticide-treated nets by one-third in the areas where AMF operates.[5] Against resistant mosquitoes, PBO nets appear to be more effective than standard insecticide-treated nets. An AMF-funded trial—the largest such trial to assess the effectiveness of PBO nets to date—found that PBO nets reduced malaria 26%, 27% and 16% more than did conventional LLINs after 6, 12 and 18 months, respectively.[6]
Evaluation
As of July 2022, GiveWell estimates that AMF can deliver a LLIN at a cost of about $5, and that a donation to AMF has an average cost-effectiveness of $5,500 per life saved.[7][8][9] (The cost of delivering a net is much lower than the cost of saving a life because a small fraction of people who receive a net would otherwise have died of malaria, and because of other factors.)[8]
AMF has been a GiveWell top-rated charity every year since 2010, with the exception of 2013, when it was excluded from their ranking due to lack of room for more funding .[10] AMF is also included in The Life You Can Save’s list of “best charities”.[11]
As of June 2022, AMF has received over $58 million in funding from Open Philanthropy,[12] and over $6.5 million from Effective Altruism Funds.[13][14][15]
AMF is a highly transparent organization. The AMF website lists every donation received[16] and every LLIN distributed,[17] as well as other pertinent information.[18]
Further reading
Freeman, Luke (2022) The journey to founding one of the world’s most effective charities | Rob Mather, AMF, Giving What We Can, August 24.
GiveWell (2021) Against Malaria Foundation, GiveWell, November.
Sánchez, Sebastián et al (2021) Timeline of Against Malaria Foundation, Timelines Wiki.
External links
Against Malaria Foundation. Official website.
Donate to Against Malaria Foundation.
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Against Malaria Foundation (2010) About us, Against Malaria Foundation.
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Against Malaria Foundation (2021) History, Against Malaria Foundation.
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Mather, Rob (2020) AMA: Rob Mather, founder and CEO of the Against Malaria Foundation, Effective Altruism Forum, January 22.
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Hollander, Catherine (2020) GiveWell donors supported more than direct delivery: AMF and new net research, GiveWell, April 23.
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GiveWell (2020) Insecticide resistance and malaria control, GiveWell, November.
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Sherratt, Peter (2019) PBO net trial results released (to 18 months), Against Malaria Foundation, November 21.
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GiveWell (2022) Our top charities, GiveWell, July.
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GiveWell (2022) How we produce impact estimates, GiveWell, July.
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GiveWell (2022) GiveWell directed grants to top charities with impact information (2020 onward), GiveWell, July.
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Karnofsky, Holden (2013) Change in Against Malaria Foundation recommendation status (room-for-more-funding-related), The GiveWell Blog, November 26.
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The Life You Can Save (2021) Against Malaria Foundation, The Life You Can Save.
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Open Philanthropy (2022) Grants database: Against Malaria Foundation, Open Philanthropy.
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Global Health and Development Fund (2017) April 2017: Against Malaria Foundation, Effective Altruism Funds, April.
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Global Health and Development Fund (2021) February 2021: Global Health and Development Fund grants, Effective Altruism Funds, February.
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Global Health and Development Fund (2022) January 2022: Against Malaria Foundation, Effective Altruism Funds, January.
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Against Malaria Foundation (2021) Sponsors and donors, Against Malaria Foundation.
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Against Malaria Foundation (2021) Net distributions — world, Against Malaria Foundation.
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Against Malaria Foundation (2021) Transparency, Against Malaria Foundation.