Mandy Moore’s latest blog at the Huffington Post discusses how to mark World Malaria Day today, deciding to celebrate the occassion that is usually commemorated. The singer and actress writes:

I’m in New York with my organization PSI (Population Services International), and our partners at Nothing But Nets and Roll Back Malaria to celebrate thousands of “Champions in the Fight Against Malaria” – individual champions who are helping to reduce the number of people dying every day from the disease.

The list of champions includes people like basketball legend Dikembe Mutombo and the executive director of Roll Back Malaria, Dr. Awa Marie Coll-Seck. But it also includes people like Nathaniel Stafford, a 12-year-old boy who walked more than 100 miles to raise enough money to provide a thousand families with an insecticide-treated mosquito net. Malaria rates are dropping across Africa because of the these champions who have joined the movement to end malaria. But we need continued support and funding to maintain that momentum.

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Mandy Moore blogged about her role as an “ambassador” for the Stand Up To Cancer initiative and how she was stunned to learn that every 47 minutes, a woman in the United States is diagnosed with cervical cancer, which is almost always caused by human papillomavirus (HPV) infection. “Education could be the difference between life and death for young women,” Moore writes at The Huffington Post. “Be proactive; don’t wait for your doctor to raise the topic with you. Ask him or her all of your questions: how one contracts HPV; and about its complications and the increased risk for cervical cancer associated with it. Cervical cancer is more common in women who don’t have regular Pap tests, so be sure to get tested.”

Mandy Moore blogged about her visit to the Central African Republic to help distribute insecticide-treated mosquito nets with the United Nations Foundation’s Nothing But Nets campaign and the global health organization PSI. “My experience was life-changing, and the many special moments and people from my trip are always on my mind,” Mandy writes. “Ten dollars may not sound like much, but the cost is too high for most people at risk of getting malaria, many of whom live on less than $1 a day. That $10 goes to Nothing But Nets to purchase a net, deliver it to a family, and educate communities on its importance and use.” Read more at The Huffington Post.