Review: Provider practice and user behavior interventions to improve prompt and effective treatment of malaria: do we know what works?

Effective case management of uncomplicated malaria is a cornerstone of successful malaria control. With current calls for the global elimination of malaria, all strategies to control malaria need to reach the highest achievable level of effective implementation. A systematic literature review of all interventions to improve provider- and/or user-side behavior in the prompt and appropriate treatment of uncomplicated malaria (with appropriate evaluation design and Roll Back Malaria outcome indicators) found 23 studies for review. Only 16 studies targeted providers, nine in the public sector and seven in the private sector. Just four interventions were conducted at national scale. These data suggest that very little is known about what interventions work in improving prompt and effective treatment of malaria. In the context of scaling up effective malaria control and malaria elimination plans and in increasing access to artemisinin combination therapies (ACTs), increased research in this area is crucial.