Malaria Rapid Diagnostic Test Performance – Results of WHO product testing of malaria RDTs: Round 3 (2010-2011)
The evaluation programme is co-sponsored by the Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics (FIND), the Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases (TDR) and the WHO Global Malaria Programme (GMP). Testing is performed at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
Summary
This report is the third in a series of laboratory-based evaluations of malaria RDTs. It provides a comparative measure of RDT performance in a standardized way to distinguish between well and poorly performing tests to inform procurement decisions of malaria control programmes and guide UN procurement policy. In Round 3, 50 products were evaluated, including 23 resubmissions from earlier rounds of product testing. Overall, an improvement was noted in the performance of products re-submitted to Round 3, indicating product improvement by the manufacturers. Furthermore, the proportion of tests achieving a panel detection score (>75%) at low parasite densities (200 parasites/μl) is higher than that seen in previous reports. An algorithm to assist in the RDT decision-making process and guidance on implementing RDTs into programmes is also included in the report.