The malaria situation in the People's Republic of China

Abstract

This report describes the measures being applied to control malaria in China and outlines the present situation in the country. In the 1940s, it was estimated that approximately 350 million people were at risk of infection and that about 30 million cases of malaria occurred annually. In the last 30 years, large-scale antimalaria campaigns have been established and have achieved much success. In 1979, there were just over 2 million reported cases of malaria and approximately 64% of the population now live in areas where the incidence is below 5 per 10 000. However, there are still several major difficulties to be overcome, and much work is needed before the ultimate goal of complete eradication of malaria in China can be achieved.