Contact Us
Rotary Clubs
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District 9455: -- Click to JLIB_HTML_CLOAKING
General Enquiries
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RAWCS Contacts
Regional Chair:
PDG Ron Geary --
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Treasurer:
Rtn Peter Wickens --
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RAWCS Secretary:
Rtn Tina Arthur --
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Donations In Kind (DIK):
Rtn Dr. Rachel Sheffield --
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Rotarians Against Malaria
Rotarians Against Malaria (RAM) is the RAWCS program dedicated to the fight against Malaria, one of the major health threats in the world today.
You Can Help:
You can help eradicate Malaria by donating to the RAM program using Project WR102. The money will be used to fund activities such as the purchase of bed nets for villagers at risk of this terrible disease. Download the donation form, complete it and send to the RAWCS-WR Treasurer.
For more details about RAM, contact the RAWCS-WR RAM Chair, Dr Barry Mendelawitz.
Background
Malaria is a potentially fatal blood disease caused by a parasite that is transmitted to human and animal hosts by the Anopheles mosquito. The human parasite, Plasmodium falciparum, digests the red blood cell's hemoglobin and changes the adhesive properties of the cell it inhabits. This in turn causes the cell to stick to the walls of blood vessels. It becomes especially dangerous when the infected blood cells stick to the capillaries in the brain, obstructing blood flow, a condition called cerebral malaria.
More than two billion people live at risk from Malaria. With more than 500 million infected with the parasite, 2-3 million die of the disease each year. RAM's current programs are focused on the Pacific region, particularly the Solomon Islands and Papua-New Guinea, using long-life, insecticide-treated bed nets to protect people during the evening, when mosquitoes feed. The nets not only protect the people sleeping beneath them, but also kill mosquitoes that come in contact. Using the Adopt-a-Village program and funds from Rotary Matching Grants, RAM supplies the treated bed-nets to villagers in a planned program.
In the Western and Choiseul Provinces of the Solomon Islands, where the RAM Malaria Control Program is almost completed, there have been dramatic reductions in the incidence of Malaria. In the Solomons, this program is now focusing on Guadalcanal and Honiara. In PNG, the focus is in the Gulf Province, where more than 100 villages have been provided with bed nets. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has recently recognised the significant role that Rotary can lay in the control and eventual eradication of this disease, has invited RAM to participate in their Global Partnership to "Roll Back Malaria".
With current RAM programs focused on the Pacific, RAWCS Western Region is currently developing projects to help address the Malaria problem in the Indian Ocean region. As projects are approved, they will be listed here.For the history of this program, see http://www.ramaustralia.org/aboutus.
For information on the RAM program in Papua-New Guinea, see http://www.ram.com.pg