WHO certifies China malaria free, after zero cases in 4 years

  

The World Health Organisation (WHO) on Wednesday certified China malaria-free after recording zero cases for four years consecutively.

It was a happy ending to a 70-year effort to eradicate the mosquito-borne disease, in the world’s most populous country

“We congratulate the people of China on ridding the country of malaria,” said 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.”

In the 1950s, China started working out where malaria was spreading and began to combat it with preventative anti-malarial medicines, said the WHO.

The country reduced mosquito breeding grounds and stepped up spraying insecticide in homes.