China has officially eradicated malaria – Health

China’s decades-long efforts to contain malaria have paid off. This week, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the territory free of the deadly disease.

“Their success was hard-earned and came only after decades of targeted and sustained action,” WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said during the announcement.

It has been thirty years since a country in the region was declared malaria-free. Besides China, in the Western Pacific, only Australia (in 1981), Singapore (1982) and Brunei (1987) have completely defeated the disease.

The WHO emphasizes that the Chinese course shows to other countries that a future without malaria is an achievable goal. In the 1940s, 30 million cases of malaria were diagnosed annually in the country. Each year, 300,000 patients also succumbed to the disease. As of 2017, no more cases were reported.

An independent commission went to China last month to determine that there are actually no more cases.

Traditional Medicine

Chinese health authorities started the fight against malaria in the 1950s. Preventive antimalarials were provided for people in risk areas. Mosquito breeding grounds were also addressed, and the use of insecticide in the home was encouraged.

In 1967, “Project 523” was launched, requiring hundreds of scientists to search for new malaria treatments. In the 1970s, Tu Youyou discovered that a compound in sweet wormwood, a plant used in Chinese traditional medicine, was effective against the disease. The so-called artemisinin and its synthetic derivatives are now part of the standard treatment against malaria. Tu was awarded a shared Nobel Prize in Medicine for her discovery in 2015.

Army Enabled

Efforts have been stepped up since 2010. The army and the police were even called in. They were given deadlines to monitor and contain the mosquito-borne disease.

China is currently the 40th country in the world to be officially declared malaria-free. The WHO warned that it is always possible for the disease to resurface in the Asian country. But the most pressing malaria problem is currently in Africa, the continent is good for 94 percent of all cases and deaths by the disease.

“Their success was hard-earned and came after decades of targeted and sustained action,” WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said during the announcement. It’s been 30 years since a country in the region was declared malaria-free. In addition to China, in the Western Pacific, only Australia (in 1981), Singapore (1982) and Brunei (1987) have completely defeated the disease. The WHO emphasizes that the Chinese track shows to other countries that a future without malaria is an achievable goal. In the 1940s, 30 million cases of malaria were diagnosed annually in the country. Each year, 300,000 patients also succumbed to the disease. As of 2017, not a single case has been reported. An independent commission went to China last month to determine that there are actually no more cases. Chinese health authorities started the fight against malaria in the 1950s. Preventive anti-malarial drugs were provided for people in risk areas. Mosquito breeding grounds were also tackled, and the use of insecticides in the home was encouraged. In 1967, “Project 523” was launched, which sent hundreds of scientists to search for new malaria treatments. In the 1970s, Tu Youyou discovered that a compound in sweet wormwood, a plant used in Chinese traditional medicine, was effective against the disease. The so-called artemisinin and its synthetic derivatives are now part of the standard treatment against malaria. Tu was awarded a shared Nobel Prize in Medicine for her discovery in 2015. Since 2010, efforts have been ramping up. The army and the police were even called in. They were given deadlines to monitor and contain the mosquito-borne disease. China is currently the 40th country worldwide to be officially declared malaria-free. The WHO warned that it is always possible for the disease to resurface in the Asian country. But the most pressing malaria problem currently lies in Africa, the continent accounting for 94 percent of all cases and deaths from the disease.

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