By Chioma Obinna
AS the World move closer to end malaria deaths by 2015, health professionals have been advised to ensure that patients suspected to have malaria undergo confirmatory diagnostic tests before treatment.

This, advise is coming on the heels of WHO’s declaration that everyone suspected to have malaria has a right to confirmatory diagnostic tests before treatment.

Experts who spoke at the opening ceremony of a week long Inaugural Training Workshop on “Effective Malaria Diagnosis by Microscopy” unanimously agreed that a patient suspected to have malaria must be confirmed positive before treatment as part of strategies to ensure that the most potent drug, ACTs, currently use for malaria treatments are not unnecessarily exposed to malaria parasites.

In his submission, the Director General of Nigeria Institute of Medical Research

(NIMR), Prof Innocent Ujah, who regretted that Nigeria physicians have continued to rely on clinical diagnoses which its accuracy remains poor.  “Prompt parasitological confirmation by microscopy or where not available by rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) is recommended in all patients suspected to have malaria, before treatment.”

He listed clinical benefit accruing from parasitological diagnosis to include; reduction in malaria mortality, improving clinical management of non malarial illnesses for parasite negative patients and thus reducing the mortality related to overlooked illnesses and drug pressure which are important in the development of anti malarial drug resistance among others

Speaking, Training organising committee, Dr. Adeola Olukosi noted the importance of accurate diagnosis in the use of the expensive artmisinin-based combination therapies (ACTs) as first line medicines for malaria treatment.

Olukosi described as poor the outcome of results from the laboratories adding that rational use of ACTs may result to drug resistant.   She said that the compulsory diagnosis before treatment would curb over exposure of ACTs to malaria parasites.

Disclosing that about 50 laboratory scientists were retrained during the programme, she said the

rationale behind the training was in line with the WHO decision to curb the malaria situation in the world.

Olukosi said there is need to train malaria microscopists on proper diagnosis and validate the competence of those already trained from time to time.

The Guest Lecturer, Dr.Tolu Arowolo, WHO Malaria Programme Officer advocated for continuous training of a pool of laboratory scientists to ensure that care providers have confidence in their results.

Arowolo also called for increase awareness of healthcare providers to confirm malaria cases before treatment.