Improving the quality of malaria diagnosis and laboratory services in resource-poor countries

This policy brief is concerned with improving laboratory services and promoting accurate diagnosis of malaria at community level. Such measures would both save lives and prevent wastage of valuable resources. Increasing levels of resistance to cheap, first-line antimalarials means that many poor countries must promote new, more expensive treatment in the form of Artemisinin-based Combination Therapies (ACTs). The need for improved diagnostic tools that can be used at community level has never been greater. Since 1999, the Malaria Knowledge Programme (MKP) has been working in Malawi and Ghana to increase the effectiveness of laboratory systems and diagnostics for malaria and other common health problems