Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair believes faith can move mountains.

And for him, malaria represents that mountain.

Blair's Faith Foundation has teamed up with the Belinda Stronach Foundation to send 30 young people of faith from Canada, the U.K. and the U.S. to raise money and awareness about effects of the disease in the developing world.

"The idea is to mobilize the people who are working in the anti-malaria campaign with the people of faith and show that religious faith can be a positive not a negative force," Blair told CTV's Canada AM.

He pointed out that many communities in Africa have no hospital or health clinic or medical facility -- but almost always have a church or mosque or centre of worship.

The ambassadors -- eight of whom will hail from Canada -- will spend 10 months helping raise awareness about the effectiveness of mosquito nets in fighting the disease, as well as raising money to purchase the much-needed nets.

"One of the reasons I wanted to do this in Canada is you're a melting pot where people of all sorts of faiths and backgrounds have come together, and you actually live together pretty well," he said. 

Blair, who converted to Catholicism in 2007, launched his foundation in 2008 to encourage people of different faiths to work together to tackle global challenges.

He said the project to tackle malaria -- which kills roughly 1 million people each year, according to the World Health Organization -- simply makes sense for people of faith.

"Where the communities have gotten the bed nets and the medication -- and there are communities in Africa, though not enough of them, that have been given this facility -- where they've got them they save lives," Blair said.

"So to me there's nothing that could better demonstrate faith in action in a positive way than trying to save people's lives on such a vast scale."

According to the World Health Organization, half of the world's population is at risk of malaria and close to 900,000 people died from the disease in 2006.

The debilitating mosquito-borne illness can cripple families and virtually erase their ability to generate an income -- but is largely preventable with the use of proper mosquito nets, insecticide and treatment, according to the WHO.

Stronach, a former Conservative MP who famously crossed the floor of the House of Commons to join the Liberal party, has made malaria a major focus of her foundation.

She told Canada AM that the partnership with Blair's organization is helping bring their shared message to young people from Canada, and from around the world. 

"We've found that once Canadians find out what malaria is and the effects of malaria, that it's the number one killer of kids in Africa, they really want to do something abotu it. And with a simple $10 bed net you can save a child's life," Stronach said.