The 1940s was a rough time for China. It is said that during that decade, over 30 million cases of malaria were reported every year in the country. A lot of people probably died during this time.
The 1950s saw a determined China, however. During these years, health authorities provided preventive antimalarial medicines for the people in order to prevent the spread of malaria, while those who caught the disease were given treatment. This was the start of China’s quest to eliminate malaria in their country.
By the end of 1990, the number of malaria cases in China had plummeted to 117 000, and deaths were reduced by 95%. With support from the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, beginning in 2003, China stepped up training, staffing, laboratory equipment, medicines and mosquito control, an effort that led to a further reduction in cases; within 10 years, the number of cases had fallen to about 5000 annually.
In 2020, after reporting 4 consecutive years of zero indigenous cases, China applied for an official WHO certification of malaria elimination. Members of the independent Malaria Elimination Certification Panel travelled to China in May 2021 to verify the country’s malaria-free status as well as its programme to prevent re-establishment of the disease.
The World Health Organization has recently awarded China the malaria-free certification. After 70 years of blood, sweat, and tears, China has finally rid itself of malaria.
Find out more about this exciting news over at the World Health Organization.
(Image Credit: NIAID/ Wikimedia Commons)