China has been declared as malaria-free just today by the World Health Organization, after a 70-year struggle to eliminate the mosquito-borne illness.
The country testified 30 million cases of the transferable illness each year in the 1940s but has now been free for four consecutive years with no indigenous case.
“We congratulate the people of China on ridding the country of malaria,” stated WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
“Their success was hard-earned and came only after decades of targeted and sustained action. With this announcement, China joins the growing number of countries that are showing the world that a malaria-free future is a viable goal.”
Countries that have reached at least three sequential years of zero indigenous cases can request for WHO authorization of their malaria-free standing. They must bring in solid evidence and prove the capability to inhibit transmission re-emerging.
China has emerged as the 40th land qualified as malaria-free by the Geneva-based WHO.
The prvious countries to obtained the status were El Salvador (2021), Algeria and Argentina (2019), and Paraguay and Uzbekistan (2018).
There is another list of 61 states where malaria never occurred, or vanished without particular measures.
