Dr Chaki is an expert in malaria prevention and control in Tanzania. He is working with a team of scientists in China recently. He works in swamps, lakes and other stagnant water areas most of the day, because that's where Anopheles mosquitoes breed. He suffered from malaria no less than 10 times because of fighting mosquito-borne diseases. But the disease didn't weaken his enthusiasm for fighting malaria at all. He said: "Mosquitoes are very cunning, we must be better!" " "
The efforts of Dr. Chachi and his partners in the global anti-malaria front line have paid off: according to the data of the Institute of Health Indicators and Evaluation, the number of malaria deaths worldwide has dropped by nearly 30% since 2000. Among them, China's progress is even more incredible. When New China was founded, there were still 30 million malaria cases. Now, on the occasion of its seventieth birthday, it has achieved zero local cases for three consecutive years.
Every year, the Gates Foundation publishes a report called Defenders of Goals, which tracks the global progress in fighting poverty and disease. This year's report brings good news. In the past 20 years, global development has been showing a positive trend. Children in all countries in the world have been educated for longer than before. Although challenges such as climate change make it more difficult for people in developing countries to stay healthy, the child mortality rate has declined in almost every country. Even in poor areas of low-income and low-middle-income countries, the health and education level of more than 99% communities has been improved.
However, the global progress in malaria control is uneven: the vast majority of new malaria cases occur in poorer countries, and low-income countries bear more than 90% of the disease burden. The gap between the rich and the poor is still huge, and the speed of narrowing the gap is not fast enough. This is not only reflected in malaria, but also in many other diseases and problems. Data in the fields of poverty and education highlight the chronic disease of inequality. Today, nearly 500 million people still live in places without basic medical care and education.