Publications by authors named "Erica Berlin"

Despite global recommendations that surveillance systems should capture malaria case data from both private and public sectors, the integration of private sector data into national systems remains a challenge for national malaria programs in high-burden settings. The WHO's Malaria Surveillance, Monitoring & Evaluation: A Reference Manual suggests eight general guidelines for conducting private sector surveillance. Practical operational guidance is needed to implement private sector surveillance and service delivery interventions.

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Background: An estimated 50% of suspected malaria cases in sub-Saharan Africa first seek care in the private sector, especially in private medicine retail outlets. Quality of care in these outlets is generally unknown but considered poor with many patients not receiving a confirmatory diagnosis or the recommended first-line artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT). In 2010, a subsidy pilot scheme, the Affordable Medicines Facility malaria, was introduced to crowd out the use of monotherapies in favour of WHO-pre-qualified artemisinin-based combinations (WHO-PQ-ACTs) in the private health sector.

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