ROTARIANS AGAINST MALARIA – Malaria Awareness Day
Around the world April 25th is declared as World Malaria Day. Here in Australia because of Anzac Day, this
day has been moved to April 30th. It is a time to reflect on the impact of malaria upon the world and the
progress we are making in fighting and controlling it in our countries of focus namely Papua New Guinea,
the Solomon Islands and Timor Leste. Currently RAM is also facilitating discussions between Timor Leste
and representatives from the malaria program in Indonesian West Timor (NTT Province) on cross border
collaborative programs to achieve malaria free status for the whole island of Timor. RAM is now also
supporting Vanuatu which has sought RAM’s help to achieve a malaria free status.
The battle against malaria continues to be waged on many fronts. We should be very proud that Australia
is at the forefront of world research in developing new anti-malarial treatments and in seeking to find a
suitable long lasting, cheap and easy to administer vaccine. Discovering such a vaccine is imperative
because the malaria parasite transferred by an infected mosquito is developing increasing resistance to
sprays and drugs.
Malaria Awareness Day (MAD) is a very important day in the RAM Calendar for it is a great opportunity to
promote community understanding of the global campaign to eradicate malaria by 2040. We wish to raise
awareness that malaria is preventable and that early diagnosis and treatment are critical to saving lives
and reducing human suffering. In 2019 an estimated 229 million people worldwide were infected with
malaria. There were about 409,000 deaths with 1,120 deaths per day and approximately two thirds of
these were children under 5 (statistics are from the 2020 WHO Malaria Report)
MAD is also a chance to highlight the outstanding contribution RAM has made in the last 26 years, assisting
in many and various ways the local health authorities in the countries we support.
For more information visit http://endmalaria.org/worldmalariaday
Please consider your Club holding a special event to recognise Malaria Awareness Day
(A list of suggested activities accompanies this document)
Your event could be used to raise much needed funds that will enable RAM to continue its malaria
elimination support programs. MAD flyers and RAM brochures are available to support your
function/event/activity. For resources, more support and/or ideas for activities, please contact your
District RAM Supervisor.
District RAM Supervisors and Email Contact
D 9780: Noel Howard (noelrosehoward@gmail.com)D9790: Jen Parer (jaspaross@iinet.net.au)
D9800: Dr Jacob Opio (jopio@internode.on.net) D9810: Shelley Gurney (shelleyg.gurney@gmail.com)
D9820: Libby Wilson (lwilson141@hotmail.com) D9830: Thisarani Jayasinghe (thisihcc89@gmail.com)
_____________
