Context: The World Health Organization (WHO) has awarded China with a malaria-free certification. According to the WHO website, the status has been achieved after 70 years of effort. 

• While in the 1940s, there used to be 30 million cases of the disease annually, today the country is free from malaria.

Key Points

• In over three decades, China has also become the first country to be awarded a malaria-free certification in the WHO Western Pacific Region. 
• Previously, WHO had awarded this certification to Australia in 1981, Singapore in 1982 and Brunei Darussalam in 1987.
• All over the world, WHO has given as many as 40 countries and territories a malaria-free certification. 
• In 2021, El Salvador received the certification while Algeria and Argentina received it in 2019. In 2018, Paraguay and Uzbekistan received malaria-free certification.

Steps taken by China

• China provides a basic public health service package for its residents free of charge. As part of this package, all people in China have access to affordable services for the diagnosis and treatment of malaria, regardless of legal or financial status.
• Effective multi-sector collaboration was also key to success. In 2010, 13 ministries in China – including those representing health, education, finance, research and science, development etc – joined forces to end malaria nationwide.
• “1-3-7” strategy: The “1” signifies the one-day deadline for health facilities to report a malaria diagnosis; by the end of day 3, health authorities are required to confirm a case and determine the risk of spread; and, within 7 days, appropriate measures must be taken to prevent further spread of the disease.

WHO malaria-free certification

• Certification of malaria elimination is the official recognition by WHO of a country’s malaria-free status. 
• WHO grants the certification when a country has demonstrated –with rigorous, credible evidence – that the chain of indigenous malaria transmission by Anopheles mosquitoes has been interrupted nationwide for at least the past three consecutive years.  
• A country must also demonstrate the capacity to prevent the re-establishment of transmission.
• The final decision on awarding a malaria-free certification rests with the WHO Director-General, based on a recommendation by the independent Malaria Elimination Certification Panel (MECP). 

Status of malaria in india

• Malaria Burden: The World Malaria Report (WMR) 2020 released by WHO, which gives the estimated cases for malaria across the world, indicates that India has made considerable progress in reducing its malaria burden.
• India is the only high endemic country which has reported a decline of 17.6% in 2019 as compared to 2018.

Initiatives Taken

• In 2017, India launched its 5-year National Strategic Plan for Malaria Elimination that shifted focus from Malaria control to elimination and provided a roadmap to end malaria in 571 districts out of India’s 678 districts by 2022.
• Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has recently established ‘Malaria Elimination Research Alliance-India (MERA-India) which is a conglomeration of partners working on malaria control.