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Nucleic acid amplification tests (NAT) for malaria are being increasingly used to support drug, vaccine and diagnostics research, epidemiological investigations, and surveillance in endemic countries, as well as, patient management in some non-endemic countries.
 
In March 2014, following on from a WHO evidence review group on malaria diagnosis in low transmission settings, the WHO Malaria Policy Advisory Committee recommended the development of an international external quality assurance system for malaria nucleic acid amplification techniques, to ensure that data obtained is reliable and comparable. In parallel, groups based at the University of Washington, Seattle and United Kingdom National External Quality Assessment Service (UK NEQAS) began piloting EQA schemes for malaria NAT in 2013-2014.
 
The Global Malaria Programme is collectively designing and establishing an international EQA scheme to promote quality improvement in nucleic acid test (NAT) performance for the detection and/or quantification of Plasmodium parasites. If the laboratory where you are working or known to you is conducting any kind of malaria NAT, you can provide input by completing a short questionnaire to ensure the proposed international scheme best meets global needs.
 
The on-line/web based questionnaire can be found at this link: https://catalyst.uw.edu/webq/survey/murphysc/251773 . It will not take more than 5-10 minutes to complete, please send your responses before February 20, 2015