Some malaria testing products fail UN-sponsored assessment

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 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).