Effective diagnosis training on malaria starts

Daily Graphic, Pg 20. Mon. June 22/09

Story Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho

A training programme to ensure that doctors request for laboratory tests from patients with fevers for the effective diagnosis and treatment of malaria has begun at Dodowa.
The programme has become necessary because of the tendency among some health professionals to treat all fever cases as malaria, making it difficult for the health authorities to know the actual cases of malaria in the country.
Already, selected doctors from the northern sector have completed a training-of-trainers programme to enhance their skills and competencies in the diagnosis and treatment of malaria.
This was made known by the Programme Manager of the National Malaria Control Programme (NMCP), Dr Constance Bart-Plange, at a two days stakeholders’ meeting of the INDEPTH Effectiveness and Safety Studies of Anti-malarials in Africa (INESS) in Accra.
She said the aim of the Ghana Health Service (GHS) was to roll out an effective educational system for doctors on malaria diagnosis and treatment.
The meeting, which brought together stakeholders from the Dodowa, Kintampo and Navrongo Health Research centres, was aimed at briefing them on the INESS project which is aimed at researching into the safety and efficacy of malaria drugs in Ghana, Tanzania, Burkina Faso and Mozambique.
Dr Bart-Plange said there was the need for the introduction of easier methods of diagnosing, such as the use of the Rapid Diagnostic Test Kit, as well as the development of a manual for laboratory technicians.
Giving an overview of the INESS project, the Project Manager, Dr Aziza Mwisongo, said it was intended to provide national, regional and international health policy makers with independent and objective evidence on the safety and effectiveness of new anti-malarial drugs.
She said such evidence could provide the basis for the formulation and implementation of malaria treatment policies.
For his part, the Executive Director of the project, Dr Osman Sankoh, said the mission was to harness the collective potential of the world's surveillance initiatives in resource constrained countries to provide a better understanding of health and social issues and to apply the knowledge to solve health and social challenges.
In a presentation, the Communications and External Relations Manager of INDEPTH, Mr Samuel Mikenga, said INDEPTH was well placed to contribute to further advancing research and developing and testing solutions to health problems for those in the world’s poorest countries.