China's disease control makes big stride in 10 years

China has made significant improvements in containing infectious diseases and has ramped up its disease control capacity in the past decade, the National Health Commission said on Friday.

The incidence rate of 27 contagious diseases deemed the most dangerous in the country dropped from about 239 per 100,000 in 2012 to 193 per 100,000 last year, according to the commission.

Lei Zhenglong, deputy director of the commission's Bureau of Disease Prevention and Control, said that prevalence of intestinal contagious diseases – such as cholera – went down by nearly 68 percent during the period, and that of respiratory infectious diseases – such as measles – fell by over 35 percent.

Last year, China was certified malaria-free by the World Health Organization – the 14th country around the globe to win the designation.

Meanwhile, the national immunization program now includes 15 vaccines offered to infants and children for free, according to the commission. The coverage rate of these vaccines among target groups has been maintained above 90 percent, said the commission.

Lei added that since 2012, especially in the past three years facing the COVID-19 epidemic, the promptness and accuracy of the country's disease monitoring system, its laboratory testing level and epidemiological investigation ability have all increased significantly.