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The use of Thailand’s malaria information system to improve access and quality of malaria services for vulnerable communities
Kitchakarn, S., Sudathip, P., Prempree, P., Gopinath, D., Young, F. J., Kongkasuriyachai, D., Sawang, S., & Sintasath, D. (2018). The use of Thailand’s malaria information system to improve access and quality of malaria services for vulnerable communities. American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, 99(4_Suppl), 354. https://doi.org/10.4269/ajtmh.abstract2018
In 2001, Thailand established malaria posts to provide free communitybased malaria testing and treatment services without the need for licensed medical workers. With guidance from the Ministry of Public Health (MOPH), pre-set criteria were used to select malaria post workers to ensure operational consistency across all posts. The MOPH’s malaria information system (MIS) was used to help determine where and how long malaria posts should be placed as well as how to monitor the quality of services provided. Individual electronic records of confirmed malaria cases are captured in real-time and active transmission Foci are geo-coded on the MIS platform. The system also captures information from case finding and treatment activities, which is used to monitor and evaluate screening activities, including case load, quality of care and compliance with the operational guidelines for each post. Key variables include: date of diagnosis, date of report, parasite species, treatment provided, age, sex, ethnicity, occupation and risk behavior. From 2004–2017, malaria posts tested 828,204 persons and treated 68,966 patients; among these, 8% were children under 5 years of age, 25% were students aged 5-14 years, and 32% were female. About 48% of patients treated by malaria posts were cross-border migrants compared to 20% treated in public hospitals. As the number of confirmed cases decreased from 26,566 in 2004 to 14,664 cases in 2017, the malaria positive rate among migrants seeking treatment also decreased significantly from 12.3% in 2012 to 2.1% in 2017. The expanded role of malaria posts included supervised treatment, behavior change communication, and distribution of longlasting insecticide-treated bed nets. The Thai MOPH uses the MIS to inform decisions about where to allocate resources for the establishment of malaria posts, which are shown to be critically important in reaching crossborder migrants and other vulnerable populations with malaria testing and treatment services.