Rotarians Against Malaria is dedicated to eliminating the debilitating, deadly disease that is malaria from our neighbouring countries: Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Timor Leste and Vanuatu. Both Timor Leste and Vanuatu are close to elimination but the incidence of malaria remains high in much of PNG and the Solomon Islands.
World Mosquito Day is observed on 20 August to mark the historic discovery by British doctor Sir Ronald Ross in 1897 that malaria is transmitted between humans by female Anopheles mosquitoes.
His discovery laid the foundations for scientists across the world to better understand the deadly role of mosquitoes in disease transmission and come up with effective innovative interventions. Sir Ronald Ross was awarded the Nobel Prize for Medicine for his work on malaria in 1902.