One of the biggest challenges facing the priority malaria-endemic countries of the Region is the limited coverage and poor quality of diagnostic testing, treatment and surveillance systems, which are the pillars of the existing global strategy to fight malaria.One of the biggest challenges facing the priority endemic countries of the Region is the limited coverage and poor quality of diagnostic testing, treatment and surveillance systems, which are the pillars of the existing global strategy to fight malaria.

The scale-up has not received the same degree of attention accorded to preventive measures, especially long-lasting insecticidal nets. Only one third of regional cases are confirmed by parasitological testing. The malaria surveillance system is weak and it is not possible to make reliable conclusions, based on the reported cases, about the impact of the interventions on the reduction in the burden in priority high-burden countries

High-burden countries have not reached the target coverage or the level of quality required for malaria treatment in the public and private sector. In this regard, the new WHO Global Malaria Programme’s Initiative – T3: Test, Treat and Track, will be the focus of the joint work of the malaria control and elimination programme and malaria control programmes, particularly in priority high-burden countries in the coming years to ensure accurate diagnosis and quality care for every case, rational use of antimalarial medicines and correct recording of cases in malaria surveillance systems.

Related link

Test, Treat, Track: Scaling up diagnostic testing, treatment and surveillance for malaria [brochure, pdf 752kb] | French | Arabic