A small club in Hobart helped wipe a disease off the map.
Not metaphorically. On 24 July 2025, the World Health Organization officially declared Timor-Leste malaria-free. Our members helped make that happen.
From 223,000 cases to zero — in one generation
On 24 July 2025, the World Health Organization officially certified Timor-Leste as malaria-free — the 47th country in the world to achieve this status. The Rotary Club of North Hobart led the global grant project that was central to making it happen. This is the headline achievement of over 30 years of Rotary effort in the Asia-Pacific region — and our club was at the centre of it.
How North Hobart helped change history
When our member Dr Jenny Kerrison visited Timor-Leste in 2017, she saw something urgent: a disease that was devastating families but could actually be stopped. She came home, wrote a grant application, galvanised support from across Australia — and set off a chain of events that led, eight years later, to a WHO certification.
The journey
1990s Australian Rotarians establish Rotarians Against Malaria (RAM) to fight malaria in Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands. The foundation is laid.
2006 RAM begins supporting Timor-Leste — a fragile post-independence nation with 223,000 malaria cases that year alone.
2017 PP Dr Jenny Kerrison leads a RAM volunteer team to Timor-Leste. What she sees on the ground convinces her a major push is possible. She returns to Hobart and gets to work.
2018 The Rotary Club of North Hobart and RAM Australia launch a Rotary Global Grant project for Timor-Leste. Fifteen of 21 Australian Rotary districts contribute. The final grant totals USD $251,334.
2018–2020 The grant delivers: 40,000 long-lasting insecticidal bed nets for pregnant women, 80 indoor sprayer machines for households, and training for 107 community health volunteers. By 2019, Timor-Leste records just nine imported malaria cases — zero indigenous ones.
2019 Jenny becomes National Manager of ARAM Australia. She immediately adds West Timor to the program to protect Timor-Leste's hard-won gains.
2021 Timor-Leste records its last indigenous malaria case. The disease has been stopped in its tracks.
24 July 2025 The WHO officially certifies Timor-Leste as malaria-free. The country's Minister of Health publicly acknowledges ARAM's role alongside the WHO and the Global Fund. A 30-year campaign reaches its destination.
"We have given Timorese a chance for a better life. The elimination of malaria was critical to the prosperity and peace of the country."
— Dr Jenny Kerrison PhD, RAM Project Manager, Rotary Global Grant for Timor-Leste 2018–2020
The journey
1990s Australian Rotarians establish Rotarians Against Malaria (RAM) to fight malaria in Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands. The foundation is laid.
2006 RAM begins supporting Timor-Leste — a fragile post-independence nation with 223,000 malaria cases that year alone.
2017 PP Dr Jenny Kerrison leads a RAM volunteer team to Timor-Leste. What she sees on the ground convinces her a major push is possible. She returns to Hobart and gets to work.
2018 The Rotary Club of North Hobart and RAM Australia launch a Rotary Global Grant project for Timor-Leste. Fifteen of 21 Australian Rotary districts contribute. The final grant totals USD $251,334.
2018–2020 The grant delivers: 40,000 long-lasting insecticidal bed nets for pregnant women, 80 indoor sprayer machines for households, and training for 107 community health volunteers. By 2019, Timor-Leste records just nine imported malaria cases — zero indigenous ones.
2019 Jenny becomes National Manager of ARAM Australia. She immediately adds West Timor to the program to protect Timor-Leste's hard-won gains.
2021 Timor-Leste records its last indigenous malaria case. The disease has been stopped in its tracks.
24 July 2025 The WHO officially certifies Timor-Leste as malaria-free. The country's Minister of Health publicly acknowledges ARAM's role alongside the WHO and the Global Fund. A 30-year campaign reaches its destination.
"We have given Timorese a chance for a better life. The elimination of malaria was critical to the prosperity and peace of the country."
— Dr Jenny Kerrison PhD, RAM Project Manager, Rotary Global Grant for Timor-Leste 2018–2020
The numbers behind the win
This is what it looks like when a community club punches well above its weight.
- 40,000 long-lasting insecticidal bed nets delivered to pregnant women across Timor-Leste
- USD $251,334 raised through a Rotary Global Grant led by our club
- 107 community health volunteers trained through our project
- 80 indoor sprayer machines donated to households
- 15 of 21 Australian Rotary districts donated to our grant — a nationally galvanised response
- 30+ years of ARAM's presence in the Asia-Pacific — our members have been central throughout
Two North Hobart members — global roles
This isn't a club that writes cheques and moves on. Our members are in the room where it happens — and in the field where it matters.
Dr Jenny Kerrison — PhD, DEd, RN
Jenny joined our club in 2011 and has served as club President. A nurse and midwife by training, with two doctoral degrees, she brought extraordinary expertise to RAM's work. After years of field visits to Timor-Leste, she became National Manager of ARAM Australia (2019–2022), leading the campaign that ended with the WHO certification in 2025. She now serves as Secretary of RAM-Global — the worldwide Rotary Action Group working to bring malaria to zero everywhere. Her work was profiled in both the April and May 2023 editions of Rotary Down Under.
Secretary, RAM-Global
Former National Manager, ARAM Australia (2019–2022)
Past President, Rotary Club of North Hobart
Howie Oh — National Treasurer, ARAM
Howie keeps the books for a global campaign. As National Treasurer for Australian Rotarians Against Malaria and Treasurer and Finance Committee Chair on the RAM-Global board, he ensures every dollar donated to malaria elimination actually gets to where it can save a life. His work is quiet, essential, and genuinely world-scale.
Treasurer & Finance Committee Chair, RAM-Global
National Treasurer, ARAM Australia
"Rotarians Against Malaria has opened doors into the hearts of Rotarians and non-Rotarians."— Dr Jenny Kerrison
Dr Jenny Kerrison — PhD, DEd, RN
Jenny joined our club in 2011 and has served as club President. A nurse and midwife by training, with two doctoral degrees, she brought extraordinary expertise to RAM's work. After years of field visits to Timor-Leste, she became National Manager of ARAM Australia (2019–2022), leading the campaign that ended with the WHO certification in 2025. She now serves as Secretary of RAM-Global — the worldwide Rotary Action Group working to bring malaria to zero everywhere. Her work was profiled in both the April and May 2023 editions of Rotary Down Under.
Secretary, RAM-Global
Former National Manager, ARAM Australia (2019–2022)
Past President, Rotary Club of North Hobart
Howie Oh — National Treasurer, ARAM
Howie keeps the books for a global campaign. As National Treasurer for Australian Rotarians Against Malaria and Treasurer and Finance Committee Chair on the RAM-Global board, he ensures every dollar donated to malaria elimination actually gets to where it can save a life. His work is quiet, essential, and genuinely world-scale.
Treasurer & Finance Committee Chair, RAM-Global
National Treasurer, ARAM Australia
"Rotarians Against Malaria has opened doors into the hearts of Rotarians and non-Rotarians."— Dr Jenny Kerrison
Simple tools. Enormous impact.
Malaria is transmitted by a single mosquito bite. Stopping it doesn't require cutting-edge technology — it requires getting the right tools to the right people, consistently and at scale.
Bed nets. Long-lasting insecticidal nets for pregnant women and children — proven to cut malaria transmission by up to 80%.
Indoor spraying. Insecticide applied inside homes kills mosquitoes before they can bite. Simple, effective and scalable.
Community training. Local health workers and midwives are trained to test, treat and teach — building lasting capability in communities long after projects end.
Grants and funding. Rotary Global Grants unlock matched funding from The Rotary Foundation — multiplying the impact of every dollar donated by Rotarians and the public.
Indoor spraying. Insecticide applied inside homes kills mosquitoes before they can bite. Simple, effective and scalable.
Community training. Local health workers and midwives are trained to test, treat and teach — building lasting capability in communities long after projects end.
Grants and funding. Rotary Global Grants unlock matched funding from The Rotary Foundation — multiplying the impact of every dollar donated by Rotarians and the public.
Timor-Leste is won. The work continues.
Malaria remains endemic across the region. Our club and ARAM are already there — and the lessons learned in Timor-Leste are being applied right now.
Papua New GuineaActive programs, bed net distribution and community health training are ongoing. PNG remains the most significant challenge in the region.
Solomon IslandsA long-standing ARAM partner country, with continued support and community volunteer networks in place.
VanuatuAn elimination target has been set. ARAM is working toward zero cases here — Timor-Leste's success is the blueprint.
West Timor, IndonesiaCross-border work begun by Jenny and our club in 2020 — essential to protecting Timor-Leste's hard-won malaria-free status from reintroduction across a shared island border.
Papua New GuineaActive programs, bed net distribution and community health training are ongoing. PNG remains the most significant challenge in the region.
Solomon IslandsA long-standing ARAM partner country, with continued support and community volunteer networks in place.
VanuatuAn elimination target has been set. ARAM is working toward zero cases here — Timor-Leste's success is the blueprint.
West Timor, IndonesiaCross-border work begun by Jenny and our club in 2020 — essential to protecting Timor-Leste's hard-won malaria-free status from reintroduction across a shared island border.
A coalition united against malaria
Our work sits within a powerful global network of Rotary organisations and international health bodies. Together, this coalition is changing what is possible.
• ARAM — Australian Rotarians Against Malaria
• RAM-Global Rotary Action Group
• Rotary Australia World Community Service (RAWCS)
• World Health Organization (WHO)
• The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria
• Rotary Club of Dili Lafaek, Timor-Leste (District 9550)
• The Rotary Foundation
• Rotary District 9830, Tasmania
• ARAM — Australian Rotarians Against Malaria
• RAM-Global Rotary Action Group
• Rotary Australia World Community Service (RAWCS)
• World Health Organization (WHO)
• The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria
• Rotary Club of Dili Lafaek, Timor-Leste (District 9550)
• The Rotary Foundation
• Rotary District 9830, Tasmania
Want to be part of something like this?
This is what Rotary looks like when it's working. Real people, real problems, measurable results — and a club in Hobart at the centre of it. If you want to do work that matters, and meet others who feel the same way, come and find us on a Tuesday night. We'd love to hear from you.
Donate to ARAM: ram.rawcs.com.au
Learn about RAM-Global: ram-global.org
Contact our club: [email protected]
Donate to ARAM: ram.rawcs.com.au
Learn about RAM-Global: ram-global.org
Contact our club: [email protected]