Malaria Task Force

 Thai-Burma border
The laboratories operated by each NGO in the refugee camps are the keys to a reliable and effective malaria control programme. Nearly all the cases are detected on the basis of the results given by the locally trained laboratory technicians. This can be a question of life and death for the patients. The high degree of drug resistance of P.falciparum in this area means that treatment are complex and expensive. They should be used only for people who need them i.e. who have a positive test for malaria parasites in their blood.

The quality control consists of 2 parts:
  1. The re-reading of microscope slides, prepared by the laboratory technicians in the camps. These slides are sent to MTF and re-checked by experienced technicians, themselves quality-controlled. In order to established the reliability of the laboratory technicians in each camp, thousands of slides needs to be re-checked every year. Each slide takes 5 mn to read. The results for each camp are tabulated and presented so that each NGO can have useful appraisal of the overall quality of their diagnosis facilities.

  2. The reading performances of the laboratory technicians are further assessed by using a standard set of slides. Each set contains 200 slides with perfect coloration and blood preparation and known results. The sets are prepared by MTF technicians and they cover the whole spectrum of possible results that the field technicians are potentially going to see in their routine practice. There are slides of the different parasite species, stages, abundance and also artefacts. Each set requires weeks of preparation and can be used for some months although it depends how well it is maintained by the users. The results of the sets are coded and entered into a computer database. The technicians undergoing the QC test is given a form to fill with his/her readings. These are compared to those in the database and cross-tabulation are generated to describe the performances of the technician. This allows to focus the refresher course to the weak points of each individual technician.