From 30 million cases to zero: China is certified malaria-free by WHO

Original article

After 70 years of hard work, China has obtained the World Health Organization’s malaria-free certification, a remarkable feat for a country that reported 30 million cases each year in the 1940s.

China is the first country in the WHO Western Pacific Region to obtain malaria-free certification in more than 30 years. Other countries in the region that have achieved this status include Australia (1981), Singapore (1982) and Brunei Darussalam (1987).

Beginning in the 1950s, China’s health authorities have worked hard to locate and stop the spread of malaria by providing preventive antimalarial drugs for people at risk of disease and treatment for those who are sick. The state has also made great efforts to reduce mosquito breeding grounds, and in some areas increased household spraying of insecticides.

By the end of 1990, the number of malaria cases in China had dropped to 117,000, and the death toll had dropped by 95%. With the support of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, starting in 2003, China has strengthened training, staffing, laboratory equipment, drugs, and mosquito control, thereby further reducing the number of cases; within 10 years, the number of cases has dropped to approximately 5000 cases.

In 2020, after reporting zero local cases for four consecutive years, China applied for the WHO official malaria elimination certification. Members of the independent malaria elimination certification team traveled to China in May 2021 to verify the country’s malaria-free status and plans to prevent the disease from recurring.

Click here to read the key success of China to eliminate Malaria.