Abstract
Background: The parasite-based diagnosis (malaria microscopy) remains the gold standard method for diagnosis of malaria in endemic areas, where 600 million individuals are infected. Malaria is the most common cause of hospital visits in Sudan. Objective: This study is aimed to assess and evaluate the capacity and quality of the Clinical Laboratories of the private sector at Khartoum State-Sudan, for the parasite-based malaria diagnosis. Method: 70 clinical laboratories form the private sector, were enrolled in this study.The quality and capacity for the study subjects were assessed and evaluated using novel scoring system. Six quality identifiers were selected as key performance indicators. The quality identifiers and their score were as follows: personnel (20%), microscope (25%), staining (20%), blood film and slide (15%), result and report (10%), and Building and safety (10%). For the evaluation of the quality and capacity of study subjects, the cutoff point was identified as 60%). Results: 64 (91.4%) individuals in this study have a bachelor degree in Medical laboratory sciences; only three of them major in Parasitology. 60 (85.7%) of the personnel have more than three years of experience in malaria diagnosis. Only 10% of the personnel in this study attended in-service training in malaria diagnosis. 58 individuals (83%) scored 10 or more for the total personnel quality score. For the quality of microscope, all the study subjects scored at least 15 points. Almost all the study subjects used Giemsa's stain, with only 5.7% using Field's stain. For the staining quality score, 52 subjects (74.2%) scored more than 10 points. Only 35.7% of study subjects reported the species of Plasmodium. 77.1% of study personnel reported the stage. Conclusion: Of the subjects, 88.5% were of a good quality and they were of an acceptable capacity for parasite-based malaria diagnosis. The quality could be improved by implementing an incentive program for quality inspection.