Global Strides Against Malaria

The World Health Organization (WHO) recently confirmed that, after a decades-long struggle, China has eliminated malaria. Now, the methods used in China are being adapted to combat malaria in Africa, where the mosquito-borne disease takes hundreds of thousands of lives a year.

In the 1950’s, China had an estimated 30 million cases of malaria a year. Through a systematic and coordinated effort, it reduced its cases to 30,000 per year in the 1990’s and then eliminated the disease. China saw no malaria cases between 2016 and 2020, prompting its WHO certification. 

However, the rest of the world suffered roughly 229 million cases and 409,000 deaths, mostly children under age five, from malaria in 2019, with more than 90% of those cases being in Africa. This preventable disease also imposes a heavy economic burden on low- and middle-income countries with billions of dollars in lost productivity every year.

WHO’s objective is worldwide eradication of malaria. The organization has been working with African governments to deploy many of the same programs that were so successful in China. These programs include distribution of long-lasting insecticidal nets and malaria-fighting drugs, and implementation of disease surveillance and control measures. It is estimated that the use of the insecticidal nets averted 68% of malaria cases in Africa between 2000 and 2015. The use of Artesun, the first injectable treatment for malaria, has saved tens of millions of lives.

Private concerns like the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation also have entered the fight against malaria. For example, the foundation uses its technical expertise to support anti-malarial product innovation, including screening traditional Chinese medicines for those that could work against insecticide-resistant mosquitoes.