The WHO has certified China as a malaria-free country.
China, in the 1940s, reported 30 million cases of the disease annually and efforts to eradicate it for the past 70 years have paid off with the WHO malaria-free certification.
In the 1980s, China was one of the first countries in the world to extensively test the use of insecticide-treated nets for the prevention of malaria, well before such nets were recommended by WHO for malaria control.
China is the first country in the Western Pacific Region to be awarded a malaria-free certification in more than thirty years. Other countries in the region that have achieved this status include Australia, 1981, Singapore in 1982, and Brunei Darussalam in 1987.
WHO Director-General, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said China’s success story was hard-earned after decades of targeted and sustained action. It has joined the growing number of countries demonstrating that a malaria-free future is a viable goal.
The WHO Regional Director for Western Pacific Region, Dr. Takeshi Kasai said China’s tireless effort to achieve this milestone shows how strong political commitment and strengthening national health systems can help eliminate a disease that once was a major public health problem.
He noted that China’s achievement takes the Western Pacific Region a step closer towards the vision of a malaria-free status.
On Friday, July 2, representatives from China’s National Health Commission and frontline health workers will join malaria programme managers from other regions, WHO experts and global partners in a virtual forum to share reflections and perspectives on China’s malaria elimination journey.
Globally, 40 countries and territories have been granted a malaria-free certification from WHO.