The Workshop on Malaria Control and Treatment opened in Nairobi Wednesday, marking the strengthened cooperation between China and Africa on malaria control.

Jointly held by the Chinese and Kenyan governments, the workshop has gathered 34 participants from China and 14 African countries, namely Angola, Botswana, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Namibia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, the Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

"The one-week workshop is one of the follow-up actions of the Forum on China-Africa Corporation (FOCAC) -- Ministerial Conference 2000," Chinese Ambassador to Kenya Guo Chongli said at the opening ceremony.

The FOCAC Ministerial Conference 2000 was held in Beijing, capital of China, in October 2000, during which ministers from China and 44 African countries exchanged views and were committed to a dynamic, new strategic partnership between Africa and China.

As one of the important measures to carry out the follow-up actions of the FOCAC and with a view to strengthening cooperation between China and African countries in the field of medical care and public health, the Secretariat of the Chinese Follow-up Committee of the FOCAT has assigned a six-member group of Chinese experts to Kenya's capital Nairobi to jointly hold the workshop with the Kenyan government.

Malaria, as the No.1 killer among the diseases in Africa, is widespread in the sub-Sahara region and seriously hinders economic and social development of African countries.

Statistics show that every 30 seconds there is an African child being killed by this menace, and it is estimated the disease deprives Africa of more than US$12 billion every year in terms of Gross Domestic Product.

Like many African countries, China had tasted the bitterness of widespread malaria last century. According to incomplete statistics, there were at least 30 million malaria cases and the mortality rate was about one percent annually in the 1940s before the founding of the People's Republic of China.

However, with the joint efforts of the whole nation under the leadership of the new government since 1949, the disease gets completely controlled and almost eliminated in China.

Meanwhile, China has made outstanding achievements in developing anti-malaria drugs. Artemisinin, developed by the Chinese scientists, is up to now one of the most effective drugs in malaria control and treatment in the world.

The workshop has invited the most renowned experts from China to deliver lectures, and participants would exchange views on the experience of controlling the deadly disease during the meeting.

"We are indeed happy to share our experience and achievements in this field with our African Rafikis (friends)," Ambassador Guo said.

Charity Ngilu, Kenyan minister for health, also expressed the same view at the opening ceremony, saying that "the workshop has a critical objective of supporting improvement of the clinical, technical and managerial skills in malaria control and treatment in the region."

"Most importantly, it will provide an opportunity of learning from the Chinese experts their country's efforts and successes in malaria control," she added.

"Indeed, there exists a base between China and African countries in the cooperation of malaria control," Tang linhua, head of the Chinese experts group, said at the meeting.

Tang explained that China has made great efforts in malaria control using two key approaches of promoting the use of insecticide treated mosquito nets and the use of herbal derived anti-malaria drugs, which have proven to be practical, effective and affordable, and would surely be widely accepted by the African people in the fight against malaria.

Prior to Wednesday's meeting in Kenya, the same workshop was held in Madagascar last week and a similar workshop will be held in Cameroon next week.

Obviously, this is a clear demonstration of the meaningful cooperation between China and Africa, just like the Chinese Ambassador said, "its significance goes beyond the field of medical care and public health, considering all the direct and indirect damage malaria brings about on human resources in terms of lost life and lost productivity."

(Xinhua News Agency July 31, 2003)