Buzz Off is an initiative of Australian Relief & Mercy Services Ltd. (ARMS)

ARMS

Australian Relief & Mercy Services Ltd (ARMS) is Youth With A Mission Australia's Mercy Ministry NGO. Formed in 1988 ARMS is a registered charity and aid and development organization that provides a legal structure through which YWAM can participate with Governments, The United Nations, and other Church and NGO bodies with the aim of providing assistance to the poor, the needy and marginalized.

ARMS supports Relief and Development projects amongst landmine accident survivors, victims of HIV / AIDS, refugees, victims of disasters, and poor communities in countries such as Thailand, Burma, Cambodia, China, East Timor, Indonesia, and Zambia. Over the next few years we hope to open up more projects in Africa and the Middle East and engage with communities in the Pacific regions. You can find out more about ARMS at our website www.arms.org.au.

The Problem of Malaria

Malaria is one of the largest killers of children in the world today. It is exclusively spread by the female Anopheline mosquito and each year in sub Saharan Africa 2 million people die because from it.

There are 4 main types of Malaria parasite. The most deadly is plasmodium falciparum (which causes a strain of Malaria known as PF Malaria). The Pf Malaria parasites can block the capillaries of the major organs which can kill a person within hours.

Up to 500 million cases of Malaria are recorded each year; that is 10 cases per second these translate into 3000 deaths a day. The World Bank estimates that Malaria annually costs strggling African ecomomies $US15 billion.

Malaria is easy to catch, but it is also easy to treat, easy to prevent and easy to test for. Testing kits can cost up to $US2.50 each. Medicines are usually cheap and readily available through local health departments or community clinics.

To beat Malaria we have to help people to make the right connections so that they can address the disease and meet the challenge head on. Empowering NGOs and local communities is the key to reducing the death toll.

What is Buzz Off?

Buzz Off is an initiative of ARMS that is designed to help NGOs to address the Malaria problem in the areas in which they work.

Here's how it works. Any NGO or local community can be a signatory to the Buzz Off charter. This charter outlines the problem of Malaria and obliges all signatories to raise the profile of Malaria education, prevention, testing and treatment with in the projects that they run. Each year NGOs update the Buzz Off Website with reports of how the targets they have set are being met. By making Malaria a higher priority more will be done to eradicate the disease.

 Buzz Off is also a means through which signatory organizations can share resources through the the Buzz Off web site. Educational material, resources and information can be uploaded and down loaded so that more material is available to more people.

The web site will also carry up to date information about Malaria so everyone in the can keep up top date with the latest information. The Buzz Off Website will also contain links and information as to the best places to obtain testing kits, medicines and other educational resources on a region by region basis.

Finally through its fund raising Buzz Off will provide testing kits and small grants for Malaria focused programs so that places that have few resources on the ground so that they are not left out of the campaign.

Buzz Off is an all out assault on Malaria.