The World Health Organization (WHO) recently reported the availability of rapid diagnostic tests that will detect malaria in a patient especially those who need immediate treatment.

The new test follows the WHO recommendations to confirm diagnosis of malaria before treatment.
WHO made the announcement Sunday as the world celebrated Malaria Day.

“Malaria kills 860,000 people a year worldwide, mostly children in Africa. In addition, there are cases in Asia, Latin America, the Middle East and parts of Europe,” WHO said in a statement posted in its website.

Some 29 rapid diagnostic tests underwent testing under the Malaria Product Testing Evaluation Program and 15 satisfied the minimum performance criteria set by WHO.

"These rapid tests have been a major breakthrough in malaria control," said Dr. Robert Newman, director of WHO's Global Malaria Program (GMP).

"They allow us to test people who cannot access diagnosis based on microscopy in remote, rural areas where the majority of malaria occurs."

GMP is the WHO arm that does malaria surveillance including monitoring and evaluation, policy and strategy formulation, technical assistance, and coordination of global efforts to fight malaria.

“In 2008, just 22 percent of suspected malaria cases were tested in 18 of 35 African countries reporting. Universal diagnosis would enable health workers to identify which patients with fever have malaria and need life-saving anti-malarial drugs, and which have other causes of illness and require alternative treatment. Better diagnosis of the disease will improve overall childhood survival, one of the UN health Millennium Development Goals,” the WHO said.

The new malaria treatment guidelines formulated by WHO call for diagnosis using the methods of microscopy or the rapid tests before treatment in all suspected cases.