Impact of the national protocol for malaria treatment on prescribing patterns in Gezira state, Sudan.

A cross-sectional study to assess the impact of the national protocol for malaria treatment was conducted in a town in Gezira state, central Sudan, in 2001. Most of the 165 doctors and medical assistants interviewed (80.0%) had not been trained in the protocol and many (57.5%) were still using their own protocols. Analysis of 410 prescriptions showed chloroquine was the most common antimalarial drug used (69.5% of prescriptions). Compared with a study before implementation of the protocol, more prescriptions met the protocol standards for correct chloroquine dose, whereas regimens for administration of intravenous quinine were still inadequate. The study showed a lack of continuous supervision, training and follow-up in the protocol guidelines and negative attitudes of hospital specialists towards the protocol.