July 2, 2021
China has stamped out malaria – a mosquito-borne infectious disease – which affected more than 30 million people in the 1940s, snuffing out hundreds of lives annually.
After reporting zero cases of the disease for the last four consecutive years, the World Health Organization (WHO) certified the country "malaria-free" on Wednesday. It took the Chinese government nearly 70 years of sustained efforts to wipe out the malaria parasite with the involvement of 13 ministries.
"Today, we congratulate the people of China on ridding the country of malaria," said Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the WHO.
Globally, only 40 countries and territories in the world are certified malaria-free. China has become the first country in the WHO Western Pacific Region to get the certification in the last 30 years. Other countries in the region that have also eradicated the disease include Australia (1981), Singapore (1982) and Brunei Darussalam (1987).
(Sources: China Report)
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