China officially free of malaria after 70 years, announces WHO

BEIJING: World’s most populous country China certified as malaria-free by the World Health Organization, following a 70-year battle in what the UN agency described as a ‘notable feat’.

The East Asian country reported more than 30 million cases of mosquito-borne disease annually in the 1940s while effective multi-sector collaboration was also key to beat Malaria. The certification makes China 40th in the world to hold the title.

Director-General of the WHO Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus while speaking about the development said ‘Today we congratulate the people of China on ridding the country of malaria. Their success was hard-earned and came only after decades of targeted and sustained action.’

Congratulations #China🇨🇳 for being certified #malaria-free. 👏👏

This remarkable achievement comes after a 70 years-long fight against this disease.

The world is now a step closer to #EndMalaria
👉 https://t.co/GfrX7ptCVG pic.twitter.com/IN6PnQBKXA

— World Health Organization (WHO) (@WHO) June 30, 2021

Foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin also felicitated Chinese people for achieving the feat – which comes on the eve of the Communist Party’s 100th centenary celebrations.

After having an outbreak of life-threatening disease 80 years back, China implemented an eradication drive that reduced deaths by 95 percent and cut annual cases to about 117,000 by the late 90s.

Over the long seven decades, China has introduced a number of countermeasures to diagnose, treat, and contain Malaria. In 2010, the Chinese authorities set a target of eradicating the disease by 2020.

Director of the WHO Global Malaria Programme Pedro Alonso while commending the Chinese authorities said, ‘Over many decades, China’s ability to think outside the box served the country well in its own response to malaria, and also had a significant ripple effect globally.’

Reports in international media cited that the Chinese government rolled out Project 523, with the help of 500 scientists from top institutions across the country in 1967.

The group of scientists introduced a number of actions and Chinese pharmaceutical chemist Tu Youyou is among those to isolate the compound artemisinin, which is now used in the active compound in modern-day most antimalarials from sweet wormwood. She also earned her Nobel Prize for contribution in the year 2015.

China also started deploying insecticide-treated mosquito nets across the territory, the time when the WHO even didn’t recommend nets as a preventative measure, per international reports.

WHO, the UN agency for international public health only grants the malaria-free certification when a state thoroughly shows that domestic transmission has been halted for three consecutive years. The country must have a plan in place to diminish any reintroduction of the disease. This point is crucial for China, as its Yunnan Province borders other countries where the disease is still widespread.

Other countries in the region that have achieved this status include Australia which was declared malaria-free in 1981, Singapore got in 1982, and Brunei Darussalam in the year 1987.

The eradication of deadly disease offers a resounding message to the other nations that it is eminently possible.

Meanwhile, in sub-Saharan Africa, infections have surged drastically after failed early elimination efforts saw governments switch to control strategies. The countries bore the brunt as almost 90 percent of the world’s 400,000 annual malaria deaths are recorded in this region.