[Evaluation of rapid diagnostic tests for malaria in Colombia as an integral part of the disease control strategy]

[[[ Introduction: ]]] The Andean Health Organization has been responsible for the coordination and evaluation of the malaria rapid diagnostic test strategy. This undertaking was organized to strengthen the malaria diagnostic capacity in ten provinces of Colombia. [[[ Objective: ]]] The implementation cycle of malaria rapid diagnostic tests was evaluated, along with its impact, performance, usage and coverage under the project “Malaria control in bordering areas of the Andean Region: a community cpproach” (PAMAFRO), as an integral part of the malaria control strategy. [[[ Materials and methods: ]]] A descriptive retrospective study was organized in two stages. The first stage was an evaluation of the implementation of the rapid diagnostic test cycle. The second stage evaluated indicators of impact, performance, usage and coverage of this strategy. These evaluations were conducted from October 2007 to July 2008 in 10 Andean provinces of Colombia. A multi-criteria scoring method was applied to determine the critical variables. [[[ Results: ]]] The compliance in the implementation cycle for rapid diagnostic tests was 71%. Planning was the weakest component of the cycle with 50% of the goals accomplished. The critical variables with low compliance were as follows: study of rapid diagnostic test needs in the country (50%), study of rapid diagnostic test needs in each province (50%), rapid diagnostic test distribution according to needs (50%), assessment of health workers performance (50%), compliance with temperature and humidity requirements for storage of the rapid diagnostic tests at the provincial level (50%), logistics (67%) and supervision (25%). [[[ Conclusion: ]]] Implementation strategies are important to strengthen the critical variables found asociated with low compliance.