A microbiologist in China examines blood samples as part of the malaria control program
December 16, 2020 – In 2010, China announced one of its most ambitious undertakings in public health: It planned to eliminate indigenous cases of malaria within a decade. The disease had a long and lethal history in the country—it’s estimated that, in 1940, China had as many as 30 million cases of malaria resulting in 300,000 deaths—and the parasite that causes it remained widespread in the early 2000s.
But by leveraging technology, implementing robust surveillance strategies, and firmly integrating the malaria control program into the country’s health system, China made quick work of one of the most persistent diseases on Earth. In 2016, the country recorded only three cases of indigenous malaria. In the years since, there hasn’t been a single documented case of malaria that originated within its borders. China is expected to soon be certified by the World Health Organization (WHO) as malaria-free.