Dr Patrick Chang, Taiwanese Ambassador to The Gambia, has said that malaria, the most debilitating endemic disease of the rural community was eradicated in Taiwan, in the early 1960s.

According to him, there is no record to indicate when the disease came into existence in Taiwan, but it is reasonable to assume that Malaria had existed among the indigenous population for many centuries, perhaps since the arrival of the first settlers from the Western Pacific Islands.

Dr Chang added that, malaria transmission used to occur throughout the year. The disease was highly endemic almost everywhere on the Island particularly in the foothill regions. “Before its eradication, malaria was a threat to the lives of many people especially in the rural communities and was also a major factor deterring the economic development of the Island,” he said.

According to him, a continuing struggle against this disease was initiated soon after the beginning of this century. He added that the Japanese government which ruled Taiwan during the period from 1895 until 1945 launched a large scale malaria control program in 1911 using Koch’s method.

He however noted that, malaria transmission was not interrupted, but there are always small outbreaks that occurred whenever there were significant ecological or meteorological changes such as the last. But the least was the most severe malaria outbreak during and after World War II.

Ambassador Chang lamented that, in addition to the chemotherapy, other malaria control measures were also applied or tested before 1946 and that larvivorous fish, gambusia affinis were brought in from Honolulu in 1911, and were widely distributed throughout the Island in 1913. “Anti-larval measures against the vector (such as removal of algae and weeds along irrigation canals, proper drainage of rice paddy fields to avoid overflow, filing-in of unnecessary depressions and drainage of swamps and unwanted water collection) were tried here and there on a limited scale,” he said.

Dr Chang noted that, clearing of the scrub, dead leaves of banana, bushes and lower trees around were all part of the semi-annual cleaning practices in the community. All measures have their merits, but there effectiveness against malaria transmission was insignificant.
According to him, in November 1946, the Rockerfeller Foundation, in collaboration with the government, established a Malaria Research Centre, in Chaochou, southern Taiwan. Through this research centre, a new malaria control technology was introduced and technical personnel were also trained.

He added this research centre became the Taiwan Provincial Malaria Research Institute (TAMRI), in 1948 and served as the Headquarters for the malaria eradication program, launched in 1952 with the technical assistance of the WHO and the Financial Assistance of the Joint Commission for Rural Reconstruction (JCRR), the Mutual Security Agency (US/MSA) and the Council for United States Aid (CUSA).