Li Bin, director of the National Health and Family Planning Commission of China, said in an interview with this reporter on October 6, "I feel personally that the African people attach great importance to Chinese scientists receiving this award, which is very valuable in their hearts. The significance of Tu Youyou winning the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine lies not only in the great scientific value of her discovery of a new treatment about malaria, but also in its even greater value of life."
Malaria is a major and persistent threat to human life, and before the introduction and promotion of artemisinin, about 400 million people worldwide were infected with malaria each year, and at least 1 million people died from the disease. But today, artemisinin-based combination therapies have become the standard anti-malaria treatment recommended by the World Health Organization. According to WHO, China, as the discoverer and largest producer of the antimalarial drug artemisinin, has played an important role in the global fight against malaria. Especially in malaria-hit Africa, artemisinin has saved millions of lives. According to WHO statistics, about 240 million people in sub-Saharan Africa have benefited from artemisinin-based combination therapies since 2000, and about 1.5 million deaths due to malaria have been averted as a result of these therapies.
Since the implementation of the Artemisinin-based Rapid Malaria Elimination Program (ACTP) in 2007 with the help of the Guangzhou University of Traditional Chinese Medicine (GZUTM) in China, the number of malaria cases in the Comoros, with a population of only 800,000 people, has dropped from more than 108,000 cases in 2006 to 2,154 cases in the first half of the year. Comorian Vice President and Minister of Health Fouad Muhaji praised the great success of the two countries' anti-malaria program to this reporter. This is a blessing for all our families, he said, as in the past, every family in Comoros used to have someone hospitalized from time to time due to malaria, with the hospitalization rate as high as 42 percent. Last year, the number of hospitalizations for malaria in the Comoros dropped to zero, and there were no more deaths. This is a huge step forward not only in the field of health, but also in social and economic development.
According to Moeeti, Director of the World Health Organization's Africa Region, "Africa has greatly benefited from the discovery of artemisinin, and the related medicines have been warmly welcomed, which has allowed great progress to be made in the fight against malaria in Africa, and contributed greatly to the reduction of deaths of the African people in recent years, especially among children and pregnant women."
Moeti also recalled to this reporter that she suffered from malaria and the experience of taking artemisinin: 7 years ago, I was infected with malaria for the first time in the Congo (Brazzaville), the doctor at that time was precisely given to take artemisinin. 3 days later, I slowly recovered and returned to work. Since then, I travel to other countries in Africa will carry artemisinin with me.
The Tanzanian Ministry of Health representative Ilias told reporters that Tanzania is also a serious malaria country, he himself has suffered from malaria many times, and artemisinin is the Tanzanian people fighting malaria is the most commonly used medicines, the effect is very good, by the patients known as the "Chinese miracle drug".
Sierra Leone's Minister of Health Fofana accepted the interview with our reporter to Tu Youyou's award to express heartfelt congratulations. He said, Africa, as a continent with high incidence of malaria in the world, we are grateful for the contribution of China and Chinese scientists.
China's sixteenth batch of aid to Sierra Leone medical team leader Wang Yaoping recalled to this reporter two years ago, a story: June 7, 2013, a local malaria and typhoid fever mixture of infected people were already unconscious, the medical team doctor Yang Zhongyi saw the situation and immediately gave a large dose of intravenous antimalarial drugs such as artesunate emergency treatment, it is because of the rescue in time, the proper treatment, the patient was quickly discharged from the hospital after five days. The patient was discharged from the hospital soon after 5 days due to timely rescue and proper treatment. The patient was discharged from the hospital soon after 5 days. The patient came to the hospital with his mother in full costume to thank the Chinese doctors after he recovered.
Zhang Shunying, captain of the 16th medical team of China Aid Congo (DRC), told this reporter that local patients are prioritizing the use of artemisinin, which has good efficacy, low toxicity, and very few side effects, whereas quinine and other antimalarial drugs have high toxicity and relatively large side effects.
Senegalese journalist Adama Gaye's book "China and Africa" begins with the discovery of artemisinin linked to Africa, that "Africa should remember this discovery". A child dies of malaria every 30 seconds on the continent, and for more than 2,000 years, China has used the herb artemisinin to treat malaria, the book reads. No other anti-malarial drug has bred so much hope as artemisinin, one of the many achievements of traditional Chinese medicine. (Cape Town and Johannesburg, Oct. 6 (Xinhua) -- Our correspondent in South Africa, Jiang Security Ni Tao Li Zhiwei)