China was certified malaria-free by the World Health Organization on Wednesday after 70 years of efforts to eradicate the mosquito-borne disease.
The country reported 30 million cases of infectious disease each year in the 1940s, but it has gone four consecutive years without a native case.
“We congratulate the Chinese people for ridding the country of malaria,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said.
“Their success was hard-earned and only came after decades of focused and sustained action. With this announcement, China joins the growing number of countries showing the world that a malaria-free future is a viable goal. . “
Countries that have achieved at least three consecutive years of zero indigenous cases can apply to WHO for certification of their malaria-free status. They must present rigorous evidence and demonstrate their ability to prevent recurrence of transmission.
Beijing, which is in the midst of a propaganda campaign ahead of celebrations for the 100th anniversary of the founding of its ruling Communist Party this week, hailed the WHO certification as a “great achievement for the cause of human rights. ‘man in China’.
“The CCP and the Chinese government have always given priority to protecting people’s health, safety and prosperity,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said during a routine briefing. in Beijing.
“The elimination of malaria is a great contribution of China to the advancement of human health and human rights in the world.”
China becomes the 40th territory certified malaria-free by the Geneva-based WHO.
The latest countries to achieve status were El Salvador (2021), Algeria and Argentina (2019), and Paraguay and Uzbekistan (2018).
There is a separate list of 61 countries where malaria never existed or disappeared without specific measures.
China is also the first country in the WHO Western Pacific region to achieve malaria-free certification in more than three decades.
The WHO World Malaria Report 2020 warned that global progress against the disease was leveling off, especially in African countries with the most cases and deaths.
In 2019, the global number of malaria cases was estimated at 229 million, a figure that has been at the same level for four years.
‘Out of the box’
In the 1950s, Beijing began to determine where malaria was spreading and began to fight it with preventative antimalarial drugs, the WHO said.
The country has reduced mosquito breeding areas and stepped up insecticide spraying in homes.
While researching new treatments for malaria in the 1970s, China discovered artemisinin – the main compound in artemisinin combination therapy (ACT), which is the most effective antimalarial drugs available.
In the 1980s, China was among the first countries to extensively test the use of insecticide-treated bednets to prevent malaria. By 1988, more than 2.4 million had been distributed nationwide.
By the end of 1990, the number of malaria cases in China had fallen to 117,000 and the number of deaths had been reduced by 95%.
“China’s ability to think outside the box has served the country well in its own response to malaria, and has also had a significant ripple effect globally,” said Pedro Alonso, Global Program Director for Malaria. WHO malaria control.
Southern border surveillance
From 2003, China stepped up its efforts in all areas, which reduced the number of annual cases to around 5,000 in 10 years.
After four consecutive years of zero indigenous cases, China applied for WHO certification in 2020.
Experts traveled to China in May this year to check on its malaria-free status – and its plans to prevent the disease from returning.
The risk of imported cases remains a concern, not only among people returning from sub-Saharan Africa and other areas affected by malaria, but also in the southern province of Yunnan, bordering Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam, all of them in taken with the disease.
China has stepped up surveillance for malaria in risk areas to prevent the disease from reoccurring, the WHO said.
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