WHO: China free of malaria
By WANG XIAOYU and ZHOU JIN |
CHINA DAILY |
Updated: 2021-07-01 08:02
Share
CLOSE
The World Health Organization declared China free of malaria on Wednesday, hailing its "notable feat" of driving annual cases down from 30 million to zero in 70 years.
The WHO said China had become the first country in the Western Pacific region to eliminate the mosquito-borne disease in over three decades, after Australia, Singapore and Brunei.
"Their success was hard-earned and came only after decades of targeted and sustained action," Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO director-general, said in a statement released on Wednesday. "With this announcement, China joins the growing number of countries that are showing the world that a malaria-free future is a viable goal."