The World Health Organization – WHO has declared China malaria-free on Wednesday.

China is the first country in the Western Pacific district to completely eradicate the dangerous infection in more than 30 years.

Malaria is a scrounging disease spread through the bite of a female mosquito, worldwide the deadly infection has claimed 400,000 lives in a year.

The majority of the people who died due to Malaria were children younger than 5, according to WHO.

Whereas, there is no certified malaria vaccine on the market, though there are a number of vaccine contenders, which are in under development phase, and one has shown unparalleled effectiveness levels in trials this year.

Malaria cases in China have been falling steeply since the turn of the century.

In 2020, China reported zero indigenous cases for four consecutive years.

China applied for an official WHO certification of malaria elimination, which was granted this week.

“Today we congratulate the people of China on ridding the country of malaria,” said WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus in a statement on Wednesday. “Their success was hard-earned and came only after decades of targeted and sustained action. With this announcement, China joins the growing number of countries that are showing the world that a malaria-free future is a viable goal.”