Introducing… Australian Rotarians Against Malaria
We have a new look, a new logo, AND a new name! Introducing Australian Rotarians Against Malaria. Please bear with us while we update our brand with our new logo and name.
Malaria is cruel and made me wish that I would die
I had malaria many years ago, but there is no forgetting it. In recent years, I tried donating blood but still showed antibodies to malaria and could only do a plasma donation. I eventually gave up trying to donate blood. … Continued
Will your club be the first annual winner of the Mosquito Shield Award?
This Rotary year, Rotarians Against Malaria (RAM) are introducing two Mosquito Shield Awards. The first award will recognise the club in our District that donates the most money to RAM in a Rotary year. The second award will recognise the … Continued
Better medication management of small babies with malaria
Malaria is a life-threatening disease that caused approximately 608,000 deaths in 2022, 80% of whom were children and pregnant women (World Health Organization, 2023). Malaria is thought to be rare in babies aged under six months due to receiving … Continued
WHO’s Global Malaria Programme Launches New Strategy
Ahead of World Malaria Day, the WHO Global Malaria Programme published a new operational strategy outlining its priorities and key activities up to 2030 to help change the trajectory of malaria trends, with a view to achieving the global malaria targets. The strategy … Continued
2023 World Malaria Report released by WHO
Each year, WHO’s World malaria report provides a comprehensive and up-to-date assessment of trends in malaria control and elimination across the globe. This year’s report includes, for the first time, a dedicated chapter focused on the intersection between climate change and malaria. … Continued
We Now Have Reasonably Effective Malaria Vaccines. But How Do We Get Them Out There?
Précised from Zarocostas, and adapted by Dr Kerre Ann Willsher and Dr Jenny Kerrison Since 2015, malaria cases and deaths have increased. Progress in malaria elimination has stagnated (Paaijmans & Lobo, 2023). With two new malaria vaccines developed, there is … Continued
The Elimination of Malaria from India: A Case of When
Kerre Ann Willsher, PhD In January 2023, I had the privilege to travel to India as part of the Mega Polio campaign. Covid 19 has caused immunization campaigns and disease management projects in India to be postponed or cancelled, creating … Continued
Announcing A New Rotary Global Grant
We are pleased to announce our newest Rotary Global Grant project for West Timor (Indonesia). The Global Grant project will be managed in Australia by PDG Geoff Simpson, and in West Timor by PP Ratna. Background: Our work in West … Continued
Bunnings Fundraiser for RAM Raises Fantastic $1,860!
The 9810 RAM committee held a Bunnings sausage sizzle fundraiser at the Oakleigh Bunnings store on Saturday 12 November. We had a really, really busy day and made a fantastic profit of $1,860 on the day! Huge thanks go to … Continued
Coating Formulation Change Leads to Inferior Performance of Long-Lasting Insecticidal Nets in Papua New Guinea
Long-lasting insecticidal nets (LLINs) play a key role in reducing malaria transmission in endemic countries. In a previous study, the authors demonstrated a substantial decrease in the bioefficacy of LLINs for malaria prevention delivered to Papua New Guinea (PNG) between … Continued
Video: Mass Blood Survey (MBS) Funded by RAM
Where was the activity conducted? The MBS was conducted in two villages Webriamata and Alkani, District Malaka, West Timor, Nusa Tenggara Timur (NTT) province, Indonesia. The video shows MBS in village Alkani, and was conducted by the District malaria program and … Continued
Frog Loss: A Lesson in Ecology
Written by Kerre Ann Willsher, PhD Do you miss the croaking of frogs on summer nights? I know that I do. When I was a child there were thousands of frogs on the creek across the road, and they carried … Continued
Zero Malaria in West Timor NTT Indonesia – Rotary Global Grant #2015867
Written by Peter McKenzie, Rotary Club of Hillarys and Project Manager GG #2015867 This Global Grant project commenced in 2019 with discussions between Dr Jenny Kerrison, Rotarians Against Malaria (RAM) and Western Region Supervisor, PP Peter McKenzie in conjunction with … Continued
Scientists At The University Of Oxford Develop A Malaria Vaccine That Gives Up To 80% Protection
Scientists at the University of Oxford develop a Malaria vaccine that can give up to 80% protection. The team now expect it to be rolled out next year after the successful trials. In addition to the effectiveness of the vaccine, it … Continued
The 2022 WHO Guidelines for Malaria Have Been Published
The WHO Guidelines for malaria bring together the Organization’s most up-to-date recommendations for malaria in one user-friendly and easy-to-navigate online platform. Learn more on the WHO website, or click on the image below to download the pdf.
RAM Australia at the Rotary International Convention in Houston, USA
RAM Australia is at the Rotary International Convention in Houston, USA this week! DGN Andrea Grosvenor for District 9705 is at the Global Fund & RAWCS-RAM Finish the Fight booth, and next to our booth is Malaria Partners International, which … Continued
Zero Malaria in West Timor – One Island at a Time
Community Assessment for the Rotary Global Grant #2015867 Written by Jenny Kerrison PhD, D.Ed.; National Manager, Rotarians Against Malaria (RAM) Australia Community Assessment in February 2020 In February 2020, a small RAM team led by Dr Jenny Kerrison (Rotary District … Continued
Rotary Club of Bordertown Raise Funds for Malaria Awareness Day
Many thanks to the Rotary Club of Bordertown in District 9780 (in Southern Region) for staging a fundraising event for Malaria Awareness Day on 30 April 2022. About twelve participants (Rotarians and friends) walked 10 km and managed to raise … Continued
Celebrating Malaria Awareness Day with a No Mosquito Picnic at a Local Winery
RAM in Southern Region celebrated Malaria Awareness Day with a No Mosquito Picnic at a local winery, generously hosted by Rotarians Ralph and Lesley Zucarro from the Rotary Club of Oakleigh Clayton Huntingdale who own Six Acres. The sun came … Continued
Ahead of Malaria Awareness Day, a New Poem by Rotarian Greg Dunn
Ahead of Malaria Awareness Day on 30 April 2022, we are publishing a new poem by Rotarian Greg Dunn on our blog. Read his previous poems here and here. Rotarians against malaria is doing fine,With all the countries we’ve got … Continued
RAM and Malaria: Oops there goes a billion-kilowatt dam
Dr Kerre Willsher, D9510 RAM Blogger We hope that everyone is well and head butting that Covid 19. At the moment, I am employed at a Rapid Antigen Test (RAT) distribution centre. The RATs are theoretically similar to the malaria … Continued
2022 Global Week of Action
Across the world, between 7-11 of March for The Global Week of Action co-organised by Civil Society for Malaria Elimination (CS4ME), Global Fund Advocates Network (GFAN), GFAN Africa, and GFAN Asia-Pacific (GFAN AP), our communities and civil society partners reached out to Embassies and High Commissions … Continued
RAM in 2022
We hope that you are all in good health and not too impacted by Covid 19. There is always light at the end of the tunnel. Thanks to Rotarians Against Malaria this is also the case with malaria. The regions … Continued
The 2021 World Malaria Report Has Arrived
The 2021 World Malaria Report is now available. Read it here.
Catnip Chemical Repels Mosquitos, Attracts Cats
Written by Kerre Ann Willsher, PhD Nepetalactone, a chemical in Catnip (nepeta cataria), a species of mint, has been found to be a very effective mosquito repellant (American Chemical Society. & ScienceDaily, 2001; Le Page, 2021). This is good news … Continued
RAM in the December edition of Rotary Down Under magazine
RAM is in the December edition of the Rotary Down Under magazine! Read the article on RAM here and read the whole magazine here.
Quarterly Update: August-October 2021
Written by Kerre Willsher, PhD The Covid19 mayhem means that Rotarians Against Malaria has their work cut out for them in many cases. Fortunately, with the assistance of Rotary Clubs, Districts, and the general public, we are “up to it.” 1.5 … Continued
Malaria Poems
Mosquito lifecycle Mozzie start off as eggs,Then they kinda get wriggly,Then Larvae then pupaeThen they become Adultslive 2 months then become sickly (dead) I’m happy I’m not a mosquitoAlthough I’d happily drink of some nectarFemales are the ones that suck … Continued
Congratulations to the 2021 Annual Video Competition Winner
The 2021 Annual Video Competition Winner has been awarded to a school in San Fernando of Cali, Colombia supported by the local Rotary and Rotaract Clubs. Congratulations, and many thanks to Virginia Turner for organising the competition.
Malaria Poems
Malaria Prevention: Cos it’s best to be safe, and not sorry I wanna talk malaria,I’m not here ta scare ya,There are simple steps you can take,In countries whereThese vampire bugs liveThe answers are real and not fake.In question of dress,It’s … Continued
Eastern Region RAM Supervisor and DGN Andrea Grosvenor presents at the 2021 Rotary Zone 8 Conference
In a breakout session at the 2021 Rotary Zone 8 Conference, DGN Andrea Grosvenor and Eastern Region RAM Supervisor presented on disease prevention and treatment: Andrea’s presentation starts just after the intro and ends at 22:40.
Combined drug therapy utilizing Imatinib in the treatment of Falciparum Malaria
Malaria causes over 400,000 deaths annually and impacts the lives of over two billion people worldwide damaging family livelihoods and national economies (World Health Organization, 2020). There were 229 million new cases in 2019 (World Health Organization, 2020). Major efforts … Continued
Climate, environment and the transmission of malaria
A new report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) – the world’s leading authority on climate science – has warned that climate change will probably cause global temperatures to rise by more than 1.5C, bringing widespread extreme weather. … Continued
An interesting find in a local Rotary shed…
Mr Paul Freimanis, a member of the Rotary Club of Whyalla was involved in building a clinic at Seghe. We found this memento in a local Rotary shed.
The World Health Organization E 2025 Initiative
3.2 billion people are at risk of being infected with Malaria, and each year, more than 400,000 people die of it (Wangdi & Clements, 2018; World Health Organization, 2017, 2021b). The E 2025 initiative developed as the result of the … Continued
Maintaining zero malaria in Timor Leste: Our International Service to open doors into the hearts of Rotarians and non-Rotarians
Introduction Malaria is a life-threatening disease. Globally, in 2018, malaria threatened the lives of nearly 50% of the global population. In that year, an estimated 228 million were infected with malaria and there were 405,000 deaths with an estimated 1,109 … Continued
Polo Shirts for Sale!
This year, RAM invested in polo shirts as part of RAM’s promotional materials for our RAM District Supervisors. The shirts are available to anyone at $32 per shirt. Please see below photos and contact Gloria Hargreaves at ramsouthern@rawcs.org.au to purchase a … Continued
Quarterly Update: May-July 2021
In addition to our quarterly newsletters, you can read on to find out about the main highlights from the last quarter. By Dr. Kerre Willsher D9510 & Dr. Jenny Kerrison D9830 Speaking at Rotary clubs is a key strategy for … Continued
New partnership launched to accelerate the elimination of relapsing P. vivax malaria
Recently, the Partnership for Vivax Elimination (PAVE) was formed to support malaria endemic countries including Brazil, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Peru and Thailand, in their quest to eliminate Plasmodium vivax (P. vivax). This partnership is critical because more … Continued
We need vaccines against malaria. Why has development been so slow?
Written by Kerre A. Willsher, PhD The 39 countries that have eliminated Malaria cannot afford to become complacent (World Health Organization, 2021), and nor can anyone else. With continuous exposure to Malaria, people develop some immunity to it. However, when … Continued
World Health Organization publishes updated Resolution on the elimination of malaria
Written by Kerre A. Willsher, PhD The World Health Organization published their updated Resolution on the elimination of Malaria on May 25th, 2021. The Resolution or reminder aims to rekindle the will to accelerate and succeed in equitably eliminating Malaria. The … Continued
Malaria Parasites Found in Spleens
Written by Kerre A. Willsher, PhD. Scientists have recently discovered that Malaria treatment and containment is even trickier that first thought because plasmodium can also be concealed in the spleen as well as the liver. The spleen has a vital … Continued
Launch of the updated World Health Organization framework for testing genetically modified mosquitoes
Malaria and other vector-borne diseases, such as dengue fever and Zika, affect millions worldwide. More than 400,000 people a year die from malaria alone, a disease transmitted by deadly anopheles mosquitoes (World Health Organization, 2021). Genetically modified mosquitoes are tested … Continued
City of Whitehorse, Melbourne Rotary Clubs Fundraise for RAM Australia
Peter McPhee, a member of the Rotary Club of Mitcham (Victoria), and of District 9810 Rotarians Against Malaria Committee, plus other Rotarians, sold raffle tickets as part of a RAM fundraiser at the Whitehorse Market recently. The raffle coincided with … Continued
What will it take to eradicate malaria?
What will it take to eradicate malaria? This article by González‑Silva & Rabinovich (2021) in Malaria Journal draws on the history of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) to highlight the insights into the eradication of a pathogen. The authors … Continued
The Rotary Club of Oakleigh Clayton Huntingdale in Melbourne fundraise for RAM, Vanuatu
The Rotary Club of Oakleigh Clayton Huntingdale (RCOCH) conducted a barbecue fundraiser for Vanuatu RAM on 24 April 2021 in Melbourne. The funds raised go to the elimination of Malaria. Bunnings provided an ideal setting for the barbecue. Fantastic job … Continued
Grants to Scale Up Efforts to Fight Malaria: Supporting High-Impact Service with Programs of Scale Grants
The Rotary Foundation’s first annual $2 million Programs of Scale grant supports a Rotarian-led effort to dramatically reduce malaria in Zambia. The Partners for a Malaria-Free Zambia program will add thousands of community health workers to the country’s health system … Continued
The RAM Scientific Committee reports on recent scientific developments (part 3)
Malaria is notoriously hard to vaccinate against. A new vaccine technology might change that. There is still a long way to go, but RNA vaccines might help in the fight against malaria. One avenue for finally getting the upper hand … Continued
The RAM Scientific Committee reports on recent scientific developments (part 2)
Infections halved in children in Ivory Coast using new technology. A new lure-and-kill style device trial shows potential for a major drop in malaria-spreading mosquitoes. Called Eave Tubes, the lure-and-kill type devices developed in the Netherlands work like this: Plastic PVC tubes … Continued
The RAM Scientific Committee reports on recent scientific developments (part 1)
Climate Change Could Have Direct Consequences on Malaria Transmission in Densely Populated Zones in Africa. A study shows that the lower incidence of disease in the Ethiopian highlands at the turn of the century has a close connection with a … Continued
Central Region District Visits
District 9510 is about to embark on a project to work towards the elimination of Malaria in the Solomon Islands. Globally, each year, more than 400,000 people die of malaria – a preventable and treatable disease. An estimated two thirds … Continued
Progress in the Fight to Eliminate Asymptomatic P. vivax Revealed
A recent video presentation by Prof Ivor Mueller, Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research (WEHI), Melbourne, reveals progress in the fight to eliminate asymptomatic P. vivax. Thanks to RAM District Supervisor Shelley Gurney (D9810) for bringing the video … Continued
The Newly Published WHO Guidelines for Malaria are Here!
The WHO Guidelines for malaria bring together the Organization’s most up-to-date recommendations for malaria in one user-friendly and easy-to-navigate online platform. The first version of the Guidelines is a compilation of existing WHO recommendations on malaria and supersedes 2 previous … Continued
Maintaining Zero Malaria in Timor Leste: Our International Service to open doors into the hearts of Rotarians and non-Rotarians
Introduction Malaria is a life-threatening disease. Globally, in 2018, malaria threatened the lives of nearly 50% of the global population. In that year, an estimated 228 million were infected with malaria and there were 405,000 deaths with an estimated 1,109 … Continued
2020 WHO World Malaria Report Released
The 2020 edition of the World Malaria Report takes a look back at key events and milestones that helped shape the global response to the disease over the last 2 decades – a period of unprecedented success in malaria control that saw … Continued
Promoting Malaria Awareness in Unique Ways
RAM would like to hear from you, if you have ideas for COVID-safe ways of promoting malaria awareness among Rotarians and the general public. For example, one activity that we may have access to is through radio. RAM Supervisor Shelley Gurney … Continued
Rotaractor Driving Malaria Elimination Awareness in Tasmania
D9830 Tasmania RAM District Committee: A Rotaractor driving malaria elimination awareness in Tasmania Welcome to our new RAM District Supervisor Rotaractor Thisarani Jayasinghe, Rotaract Club of Central Coast. The RAM D9830 Committee was established in 2017 by Dr. Jenny Kerrison, … Continued
Announcing the 2020 School Video Competition Winner!
CONGRATULATIONS to the winner of the 2020 RAM Annual Schools Video Competition, Classe des CM2 du Lycée Français de Port Vila. For more information about the Competition, click here.
PDG Phil Dempster – Rotarian Extraordinaire
For more than a decade, PDG Phil Dempster, provided support to and oversight of Rotarians Against Malaria (RAM) Australia. This year, Phil decided to step down from RAM. In his true generous fashion, Phil is available to us at anytime. … Continued
Milton Lewis and the RAWCS Humanitarian Award
RAM is very pleased to celebrate the presentation of the RAWCS Humanitarian Award to Milton Lewis, for many years of wonderful service to the people of PNG in general health and the control of malaria in particular, and for his … Continued
Malaria in Australia
There is a long history of anti-malaria activities in Australia. Malaria was endemic in the northern, tropical areas and there were various outbreaks in Darwin and Far North Queensland in the early years of recording. Malaria became of major concern … Continued
The Global Fund and RAWCS-RAM join hands to eliminate malaria in the Oceania region
MEDIA RELEASE: 30 April 2020 Global progress on malaria elimination has stalled. Malaria continues to inflict unnecessary human and economic losses, mostly in developing countries. Pregnant women and children under five years are disproportionately affected by malaria. Within this … Continued