Current practices and innovative diagnostics for Malaria in Ethiopia: a scoping review

For several decades, malaria has been a significant health concern in the African region. It continues to be a major contributor to illness, hospitalizations, and death, particularly among young children and pregnant women. Despite the national and regional efforts towards achieving the 2030 malaria elimination strategy, Ethiopia still faced an increment in malaria cases. While studies exist, a thorough synthesis or mapping of practices and innovative diagnostics for Malaria was previously lacking.

To explore current practices and innovative diagnostics for Malaria in Ethiopia, 2024.

This scoping review was conducted following Arksey and O'Malley's methodological steps to develop research questions, identify relevant studies, include/exclude studies, extract data, and report the findings. To ensure methodological quality, we used the PRISMA guideline and PRISMA-ScR checklist.

Thirteen studies were eligible, and 38.5% of them were published between 2008 and 2024. The majority (84.6%) of the studies were conducted using cross-sectional study designs, while one (7.7%) of them was conducted by RCT design. Most were conducted in the Amhara region (43.75%), followed by the Oromia region (31.25%). Light microscopy, rapid diagnostic test (RDT), polymerase chain reaction (PCR), and loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) were the identified malaria diagnostics so far in Ethiopia, with each having unique advantages and limitations.

The current study underscored the need for a tailored, highly accurate, user-friendly, and applicable diagnostics that addresses the unique limitations of each malaria diagnostic modality to support the malaria elimination and control strategy in Ethiopia.