Overcoming health systems barriers to successful malaria treatment.

The success of malaria control programmes is recognised to be handicapped by the capacity of the health system to deliver interventions such as first-line treatment at optimal coverage and quality. Traditional approaches to strengthening the health system such as staff training have had a less sustained impact than hoped. However, novel strategies including the use of mobile phones to ease stockouts, task-shifting to community health workers, and inclusion of the informal sector appear more promising. As global health funding slows, it is critical to better understand how to deliver a proven intervention most effectively through the existing system.