Madness Against Malaria Declares March 12 “Malaria Monday”, Urges People to Consider Allocating Small Portion of Wages to Fighting Malaria

NEW YORK; March 12, 2007 — In honor of “Selection Sunday,” Madness Against Malaria (MAM) co-founder and hedge fund manager Lance Laifer urged sports fans to recognize “Malaria Monday” by supporting one of the 32 teams battling for top honors on madnessagainstmalaria.com. MAM is a unique international online fundraising and awareness-raising initiative modeled after the NCAA March Madness college basketball tournament.

“As March Madness begins, and sports enthusiasts enter pools and place bets, I urge them to donate a portion of their wagers or winnings to MAM,” said Laifer, who co-founded MAM along with Rob Mather of the World Swim For Malaria Foundation (WSMF). “Even just $5 can help save a life.”

More than 100 teams from dozens of countries around the world have been participating in MAM, which launched in September 2006 and was lauded for its creativity by First Lady Laura Bush during the December 2006 White House Summit on Malaria. The field is now down to 32 teams.

Thus far, more than $72,000 in funds were raised to purchase more than 14,000 life-saving long-lasting insecticide-treated bed nets (LLINs)—a simple yet remarkably effective means of combating the mosquito-spread disease. Despite being fully preventable and curable, malaria kills 1-3 million people each year—70% of whom are children under the age of five.

Since March 1, the 64 teams that had raised the most money as of February 28 have been competing “knock-out style” against each other. The team from each pair that raised the most money by yesterday, March 11, moved on to the second round. Each successive round of competition will last one week. On April 16, the winning team will be determined.

Laifer is also the co-founder of Hedge Funds vs. Malaria, a group of hedge fund managers working together to come up with innovative ideas to raise money and awareness within the hedge fund community about malaria.

To participate in Madness Against Malaria by supporting one of the top 64 teams, visit www.madnessagainstmalaria.com.