Celebs Take Shots at Malaria - With Comedy

LOS ANGELES (CBS) - Although malaria was eradicated in the United States nearly 60 years ago, it continues to claim the lives of more than 850,000 people every year, most of them children under the age of 5 in Africa.

Malaria No More has made it a mission to raise money and awareness for the cause, working with policymakers, companies and NGOs (including the U.S. Fund for UNICEF) to increase the availability of insecticide-treated bed nets that halt transmission of malaria by mosquitoes. Their goal: End malaria-related deaths in Africa by 2015.

Among their fundraising tools: A "Mosquitoes Suck" T-shirt.

Last year, the non-profit made headlines after Ashton Kutcher hit 1 million Twitter followers, donated $100,000 and motivated his fellow celebs and followers to do so as well.

Now they're moving in another direction with their Comedy Fights Malaria campaign, featuring viral videos and PSAs from 25 comedians and celebs.

Among those stepping up: Ed Helms and B.J. Novak of "The Office," John Mayer, Elizabeth Banks, and Nick Kroll. Their video features footage from a trip to Senegal this summer where they witnessed the malaria epidemic firsthand.

"Comedy Fights Malaria is a fresh, different, and truly funny way to get people thinking about a serious opportunity to save lives," said Novak, a creative force behind the campaign.

Also signed up: Aziz Ansari ("If malaria were a person I would kick it in the face!"), Will Arnett, Orlando Bloom, Ted Danson, Sarah Gilbert, Elliott Gould, Josh Groban, Rachel Harris, Jeremy Piven, and Jason Schwartzman.

Kroll brought his Jersey Shore-esque character Bobby Bottleservice to Africa, and came up with a novel solution to the epidemic: Get all the flies together by creating a club, complete with fist-pumping music and a goat DJ. (Uhm, Mr. Bottleservice, that's mosquitoes we're concerned about!)

For more info go to MalariaNoMore.org and Malaria No More's Facebook page.