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China has eliminated malaria: From 30 million cases to zero

China has eliminated malaria: From 30 million cases to zero

Malaria

The World Health Organization (WHO) today declared China malaria-free, following a decades-long effort that reduced an estimated yearly toll of 30 million cases in the 1940s to zero in 2017, including 300,000 deaths.

China created new monitoring tactics, treatments, and technology along the path to break the malaria parasite transmission cycle between Anopheles mosquitoes and humans.

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“Today we congratulate the people of China on ridding the country of malaria,” said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General. “Their success was hard-earned and came only after decades of targeted and sustained action. With this announcement, China joins the growing number of countries that are showing the world that a malaria-free future is a viable goal.”

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In more than three decades, China became the first country in the WHO Western Pacific Region to receive a malaria-free certification.

Australia (1981), Singapore (1982), and Brunei Darussalam (1987) are among the other countries in the region to have attained this status.

China is also the 40th country in the world to be declared malaria-free by the World Health Organization (WHO) in Geneva.

El Salvador (2021), Algeria and Argentina (2019), and Paraguay and Uzbekistan were the most recent countries to be granted the status (2018).

A separate list of 61 nations where malaria never existed or was eradicated without specific measures is also available.

Beginning in the 1950s, Chinese health officials worked to locate and halt the spread of malaria by giving both preventive antimalarial drugs and therapy for those who had already been infected. In some locations, the country also made a huge effort to limit mosquito breeding sites by increasing the use of chemical spraying in households.

Chinese scientists have developed genetics-based ways to track medication resistance and differentiate local instances from imported cases in recent years.

“China’s ability to think outside the box served the country well in its own response to malaria,” Pedro Alonso, director of WHO's Global Malaria Programme, said in a statement.

(With inputs from agencies)