afrol News, 24 April - The USAID has declared that Malaria is beginning to be rolled back, setting the stage for big gains in the next few years.

In a statement to mark the World Malaria today, USAID said its focus in the current programmes would be on building capacity within host countries by training people to manage, deliver, and support the delivery of health services, which will be critical for sustained successes against infectious diseases.

"To be successful, we must involve community, volunteer, and private sector organisations in malaria control activities at national, district and community levels. Partnerships with faith-based and community organisations are essential because of the credibility these groups have within their communities, their ability to reach the grassroots level, and their capacity to mobilise significant numbers of volunteers," the USAID said in a statement.

The statement added that in the 15 focus countries in Africa, the United States has supported more than 150 nonprofit organisations, over 40 of which are faith based.

"On Malaria Day, we strengthen our commitment to rid Africa of malaria by expanding proven approaches and interventions until they reach each and every child and pregnant woman who needs them. The prize in reducing the intolerable burden of malaria in Africa will be not only be healthier mothers and children, but also a chance for the poorest of the poor to benefit from greater socioeconomic development," concluded the USAID statement.

Meanwhile, a United Nations-backed study on dozens of malaria diagnostic tests available on the market has found that performance between products in detecting the deadly disease varied widely, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced today.

The independent evaluation of 41 commercially available rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) for malaria, according to WHO, demonstrated that although several of the tests could detect even low parasite densities in blood samples, many were only able spot high parasites at high density levels.

According to a news release issued by WHO, the findings will serve as a tool for countries to make informed choices about the purchase and use of malaria RDTs that are best suited to local conditions.

“This is an important first step in establishing a broader system of diagnostics surveillance and quality assurance to ensure sound and accurate diagnosis of malaria in poor and remote settings,” said Robert Ridley, Director of WHO-based Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases (TDR).

Mr Ridley noted that the laboratory tests “provide us with a mechanism to evaluate RDT performance in a standardized way so that WHO, donors and country health ministries can identify those tests that perform best for their needs and particular settings.”

The largest-ever independent, laboratory-based evaluation of RDTs for malaria was co-sponsored by the WHO Regional Office for the Western Pacific (WPRO), TDR and the Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics (FIND). The testing was performed at the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

By staff writer

© afrol News

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