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This indicator-based study assessed the antimalarial drug prescribing and dispensing prac- tices of health care providers in health centres of Khartoum state, and compared these with national guidelines for malaria treatment. A total of 720 patients and their prescriptions in 24 health centres were included. Prescribers adhered to national treatment guidelines for only 278 (38.6%) of patients. Although all were treated for malaria, only 77.6% patients had fever or history of fever and only 64.6% had fever and positive blood films. More than 90% of prescriptions prescribed antimalarial drugs by generic names but dosage forms were correctly written in only 23.5%. There was a high rate of prescribing antimalarial injections. Only half the patients had adequate knowledge of their treatment.

A cross-sectional community-based study was carried out in Khartoum urban area aimed at stratifying the area by risk of malaria transmission. Two thousand households [8092 individuals] were surveyed during the cold, dry and rainy seasons of 2002. Households with screened windows, using bednets or both were 5.0% [95% CI: 4.1-6.0], 10.9% [95% CI: 9.5-12.3] and 1.8% [95% CI: 1.2-2.5] respectively. Access to health services was high. Only 3.8% [95% CI: 2.9-4.7] of households kept antimalarial drugs at home. The parasite rate, spleen rate and fever rate were very low [0.21%, 0.17% and 0.97% respectively]. Overall, people in Greater Bahry suffer a greater burden of malaria than those in Greater Khartoum or Greater Omdurman, with a seasonal pattern of transmission.