American actress, Sharon Stone followed her "basic instinct" last Friday at the Davos 2005 meeting in Switzerland. During the annual World Economic Forum's plenary session on poverty, Stone was moved to take action on the issue of malaria. She was also moved to rally her fellow delegates at the meeting.

In the middle of the session, Stone stood up, offered $10,000 and asked if she had any supporters.

In a matter of minutes, Stone raised over $1,000,000.

Her goal: To help buy mosquito-protecting bed nets.

Stone asked those in the session "Would anyone else like to be on a team with me and offer their support?"

She said: "President Mkapa needs help today because people are dying in his country today and that's not OK with me."

"Just stand up!" Stone encouraged.

Sharon Stone, Photo by WEF

African entrepreneur Bertie Lubner of PG Group fame was the first to rise to the occasion and offered $50,000.

Volunteers took the name of the donors as fellow delegates joined Stone's impromptu pledge.

In five minutes, fifty delegates and the "Basic Instinct" actress had raised $1.4 million on behalf of an appeal made by Tanzanian President Benjamin Mkapa.

Facts About Malaria

Malaria has been estimated to cost Africa more than $12 billion every year in lost GDP, even though it could be controlled for a fraction of that sum.

1 million people die a year from Malaria. 90% of these deaths occur in Africa.

Most of these deaths are children under 5 years of age.

150,000 African children are dying of malaria every month because they did not have bed nets. Pretreated models of bed nets can be purchased for as little as $7 and can last up to five years.

The money raised by Sharon Stone last week will go to the Global Fund to fight Aids, tuberculosis and malaria.

For a list of The Global Fund's Malaria programs or to make your own donation go to:

While Sharon Stone is passionate about saving the human race from disease infected mosquitos, she is also committed to the preservation of wild and exotic animals.

She is also a committed HIV and AIDS activist in the United States. She is the honorary chair of the American Foundation for AIDS Research (AmFAR).

At a late-evening nightcap, Stone said:

I have this philosophy that money talks and cash screams.

I thought, 'I'm going to have to make an ass of myself, I'm going to have to stand up and be shameless.

Stone's shamelessness has led to 12 containers of mosquito bed nets being shipped to Africa today.

A Message From Sharon Stone

In a SMS e-mail sent to all the Davos attendees on Saturday, Stone wrote:

Dear Participants,

I want to save lives - I want to do it now, and I know you want to help me.

As you may have seen at the end of the debate on 'funding the war on poverty', I stood up and pledged 10,000 dollars and asked people to follow me. Already, within a few minutes we raised nearly 100,000 dollars - I want to raise at least one million. It's money that will go directly to the Global Fund to Fight Aids Tuberculosis and Malaria - to buy bed nets to stop deaths from malaria in the developing world.

If you want to join me - mail me. Send your name, phone number and email and how much you want to give to sharon.stone@weforum.org

You will be contacted once the Annual Meeting is over by the World Economic Forum to see how the payment will be managed.

ALL the money will go the Global Fund to Fight Aids Tuberculosis and Malaria - and ALL the money will save lives.

Yours Sincerely,

Sharon Stone

Klaus Schwab, the founder of the forum, said a special account had been opened in Switzerland for donations.

The day before Stone's spontaneous fund-raising effort, Prime Minister Tony Blair announced that Britain would donate $85 million for bed nets to fight malaria, out of a total $550 million sought by world health campaigners.

Sharon Stone at Davos WEF 2005, Photo Credit: AFP

Congratulations Sharon, President Mkapa, Tony Blair, Bertie Lubner and all those who are contributing to fighting malaria!

Inspire & Be Inspired.

Here's to healthy, adventuresome, soulful, "$7 life saving" living!

~ Jennifer Carolyn King

2005 Davos Meeting Stars Tony Blair, Bill Gates, Sharon Stone, Jolie, Gere, Richie, Gabriel & Bono at World Economic Forum (WEF)