April 25 is World Malaria Day, as declared by the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2007 with the aim of raising global efforts to control the disease. This year, the day is themed "Time to deliver zero malaria: invest, innovate, implement."

The WHO said the world is not on track to reach the targets of the WHO Global Technical Strategy for Malaria 2016-2030, calling for urgent and concerted action to set the world back on the trajectory to end malaria by 2030. 

Having achieved a malaria-free status, China has continued to contribute to shaping a malaria-free world, extending its experience of eliminating this disease to other countries. 

Since the first Chinese medical team arrived in Algeria in 1963, China has dispatched around 30,000 medical personnel to 76 countries and regions across five continents, with a primary focus on Africa, providing 290 million diagnoses and treatments for local people, according to the National Health Commission of China.

On Monday, the Chinese anti-malaria expert team, the 18th batch Chinese Medical Team to Sao Tome and Principe, an island country off the west coast of Africa, and the Confucius Institute at the University of Sao Tome and Principe, jointly held events about fighting malaria for students. The activities included lectures, and free clinic and consultation sessions, aiming to raise public awareness of the disease and its prevention and control. 

The Chinese anti-malaria expert team has been working with Sao Tome and Principe's Ministry of Health and its disease control center's anti-malaria team since 2017. With the Chinese anti-malaria solution, the annual average malaria incidence rate in pilot villages near Sao Tome, the capital of the country, has dropped from 60 percent to 3 percent in recent years, according to China International Development Cooperation Agency. 

Malaria is spread to humans by some types of mosquitoes. Despite the disease being preventable and curable, it can be life-threatening with severe symptoms including fatigue, confusion, seizures, and difficulty breathing.

Since April, China's 10th batch of peacekeeping engineering contingent in Mali has carried out events on malaria prevention and control for the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission.

Multiple methods, including disinfecting mosquito-prone areas and distributing anti-mosquito medicines, have been taken to ensure the health of peacekeepers, Zhang Shanxin, a doctor, told China Media Group.

Marking the 16th World Malaria Day, the Chinese medical team held similar activities to expand knowledge of malaria control for UN peacekeepers in the Democratic Republic of Congo and carried out free malaria checkups for local residents.

According to the WHO, malaria killed 619,000 people and caused about 247 million new cases worldwide, risking nearly half of the global population in 2021; the WHO African Region took disproportionate shares in those numbers: 95 percent of malaria cases and 96 percent of malaria deaths.

Children under 5 are most vulnerable, accounting for about 80 percent of all deaths in the region that year, the organization added.