Gambia international Sanna Nyassi said he is fortunate not just because he has a natural talent for soccer and the dedication to rise through the ranks in Gambia and eventually go to the United States to play for the Seattle Sounders in premier tier of American football.

 Before leaving the Gambia for America, Nyassi contracted malaria. "It's a killer disease," the midfielder, 20, said. "You lose appetite. You are throwing up all the time. Your body gets warm. It's very serious." Nyassi recovered. But nearly a million people - mostly young children and pregnant women in sub-Saharan Africa -- do not survive the disease, according to the National Institutes of Health.

On Saturday, before their game against the San Jose Earthquakes, Nyassi and his teammates marked World Malaria Day by giving a check for $20,000 they raised for Nothing But Nets, a UN Foundation-sponsored campaign to supply anti-malarial bed nets to some of the poorest parts of the world.  Nothing But Nets buys and delivers each bed net for about $10. The nets prevent mosquitoes from biting people while they sleep and passing on the parasite that causes malaria.

Even though malaria was been wiped out in the United States, it still rages in countries in Africa, Asia and other developing parts of the world. "The challenge is enormous because of the size," says Dr. Regina Rabinovich, director of Infectious Diseases Development at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which so far has dedicated over $1 billion to fighting and preventing malaria.

While malaria can be treated, getting that treatment to people suffering from the disease who are often in remote places and with little access to health care is not always easy. There is no vaccine to prevent malaria. But Rabinovich argues that cases of malaria can be greatly reduced even before a vaccine is discovered. "The really interesting thing about malaria is that they haven't depended on a magic silver bullet," she explains. "Bed nets protect you about half the time, spraying protects you. It's been the combination of prevention and treatment that's effective. When we have a malaria vaccine it will join that toolbox."

Until there is a vaccine, prevention and remedies as simple as bed nets will be crucial. Success playing soccer means Sanna Nyassi no longer needs to be wary of malaria, but that hasn't made him forget those that do. "I was born poor," Nyassi says. "But things are getting better for me. I have to look back at the other ones,"