DAR ES SALAAM, Feb. 5 (Xinhua) -- Tanzanian health authorities said on Friday that the country aims to cut malaria infection rate to 3.5 percent by 2025.

File photo shows an agricultural technician (L) teaching a farmer how to plant Artemisia Absinthium at the Nane Nane Festival in Arusha, Tanzania. Artemisia Absinthium is the raw material of Artemisinin, which is the key element in anti-malarial drugs. (Photo: Xinhua)

"The government intends to eliminate malaria in Tanzania by 2030," Deputy Minister for Health, Community Development, Gender, Elderly and Children Godwin Mollel told lawmakers in the capital, Dodoma, responding to a question by a member of parliament.

Maida Hamad Abdallah, a legislator for special seats, observed that despite government efforts to fight malaria, the disease continues to affect people, especially children.

Tanzania's malaria infection rate, at 40 percent in the 2000s, fell to 7.5 percent in 2017, thanks to government efforts, Mollel told lawmakers.