TIMELINE

2012: Tetanus is eliminated among newborn babies in China.

2014: The inoculation of newborn babies with the hepatitis B vaccine sees the proportion of chronically infected children age 5 and younger fall to 0.32 percent, achieving the World Health Organization's goal of reducing the figure to less than 1 percent ahead of schedule. China begins sending clinical and public health experts to West African countries hit by the Ebola virus epidemic.

2015: China establishes the world's largest online direct reporting system for epidemics and public health emergencies. The average reporting time falls from five days to four hours. Tu Youyou is awarded the 2015 Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine for her contributions to the discovery of artemisinin, an antimalaria treatment.

2016: China issues Healthy China 2030, a guideline to promote public health and fitness.

2018: The National Healthcare Security Administration is established, signaling a new chapter in the reform of medical insurance.

2020: The fight against the COVID-19 epidemic begins. China's first self-developed COVID-19 vaccine receives conditional market approval from the National Medical Products Administration in December.

China's mortality rate from tuberculosis falls to 2.1 deaths per 100,000 people, compared with an average of 17 deaths per 100,000 globally.

2021: The World Health Organization lists the Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use, the first Chinese vaccine to be given the green light for a global rollout. In June, the WHO says China has eliminated malaria.

SOURCE: NATIONAL HEALTH COMMISSION/STATE COUNCIL INFORMATION OFFICE