The Chinese cure for malaria

Witness History

BBC

History, Personal Journals, Society & Culture

4.4 • 1.6K Ratings

🗓️ 23 March 2020

⏱️ 10 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In the 1970s, scientists in China used ancient traditional medicine to find a cure for malaria. Artemisinin was discovered by exploring a herbal remedy from the 4th century, and can cure most forms of malaria with very few side effects. It has saved millions of lives all over the world. Rebecca Kesby talks to Professor Lang Linfu, one of the scientists involved.

PHOTO: Professor Lang Linfu (family archives)

Transcript

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0:00.0	Just before this BBC podcast gets underway, here's something you may not know.
0:04.7	My name's Linda Davies and I Commission Podcasts for BBC Sounds.
0:08.5	As you'd expect, at the BBC we make podcasts of the very highest quality featuring the most knowledgeable experts and genuinely engaging voices.
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0:29.7	If you'd like to discover something a little bit unexpected, find your next podcast over at BBC
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1:03.4	Listen on BBC Sounds.
1:05.6	Hello and thanks for joining us for this witness history podcast from the BBC World Service with me Rebecca
1:15.8	Kessby and today we head to China in 1972 and a medical breakthrough in the treatment for malaria.
1:23.2	The drug Artemisinin has saved millions of lives,
1:27.1	but it was born out of a chaotic time in history,
1:30.3	which meant it was decades before it was widely used.
1:33.5	I've been speaking to one of the scientists behind its discovery.
	...

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