China declared Malaria-free Officially

China declared Malaria-free Officially
Source : BBC
Health

What we discuss under China declared Malaria-free Officially ?

China used to report 30 million cases a year during the 1940s. Since then, eradication efforts have driven down case numbers.

The country used various methods to break the cycle of transmission of the parasite via mosquitos.
Country had now gone four years without registering a case, giving it malaria-free certification.
How China achieved ?
- China’s government has brought malaria cases down by using anti-malarial drugs, spraying mosquito breeding grounds, and distributing insecticide-treated nets.
According to the WHO, China has become the 40th country to be declared malaria-free.
Last few years include Argentina, Algeria and Uzbekistan.

Malaria is a life-threatening disease caused by parasites that are transmitted to people through mosquito bites.
Photo by Егор Камелев on Unsplash
The illness starts with symptoms such as fever, headaches and chills and without treatment, can progress quickly to severe illness and often death.
Preventable and mostly curable if diagnosed and treated promptly.
The World Health Organization estimates there were 229 million cases of malaria worldwide in 2019.
409,000 deaths occurred due to malaria.
Around 94% of all infections were reported in Africa.
The best available treatment is artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT).

Countries can apply to the WHO for certification as malaria-free after they report four consecutive years of no indigenous cases.
They must then present evidence of this and demonstration their ability to prevent any future outbreak.

According to the WMR 2019, India represents 3% of the global malaria burden.
Despite being the highest malaria burden country of the SEA region, India showed a reduction in reported malaria cases of 49% and deaths of 50.5% compared with 2017.
India has made remarkable progress during the recent years in reducing the malaria incidence.
Also there are remarkable decline in malaria incidence in India the estimated malaria cases were reduced by 24% in 2017 compared to 2016 and 28% in 2018 compared to 2017.
In accordance with the GTS, the Government of India launched the National Framework for Malaria Elimination 2016-2030 in February 2016 and the National Strategic Plan for Malaria Elimination 2017-2022 in July 2017 with WHO support.
India has a vision of a malaria free country by 2027 and elimination by 2030.

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