David Beckham is in a glass box with 10,000 mosquitoes for an important reason

pulse

February 15, 2018 11:46 AM

Former Men's Health cover guy David Beckham may be retired, but that certainly doesn't mean he isn't keeping busy.

The legendary soccer star posted a video on Instagram calling for the end of malaria

The soccer icon is spearheading a campaign against malaria, recently posting a video on Instagram highlighting the dangers of the disease. The powerful clip features Beckham standing in a glass box, surrounded by thousands of mosquitoes.

Beckham is leading the "Malaria Must Die — So Millions Can Live" campaign, which is a call to ultimately end the disease that, according to the CDC, killed 445,000 people in 2016.

"Today, a mosquito bite still takes a child's life every two minutes," Beckham says in the video. "We can be the generation that ends it for good."

Malaria is a disease spread by mosquitoes that causes fever, chills, nausea and vomiting. In places like the Untied States and United Kingdom, malaria is rare and, if contracted, easily treatable. If left untreated, however, the disease can be fatal.

The "Malaria Must Die" campaign's mission is to urge leaders of the Commonwealth of Nations — a collective of 52 nations, many of which are former British colonies — to make the full eradication of malaria a priority. Many of the countries in the Commonwealth are in Africa, where the disease is still rampant.

"It's the 21st century and people are still dying from the world's oldest and deadliest disease," the campaign's website says. "The world knows what needs to be done and we have a choice: Let malaria go on killing almost half a million people a year or we can take action to end malaria for good."

David Beckham has always been a style and fitness icon, as well as a vocal proponent of healthy living. Now he's using his massive influence to help save lives. And it's working: so far, the video has received more than 2 million view.

pulse