Journal of School of Public Health and

  Background and Aim : The National Malaria Control Program was developed, in 2011, into the National Malaria Surveillance Program. It is one of the most comprehensive surveillance systems in Iran. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of malaria elimination program on data quality and accuracy in the national malaria surveillance system.

  Materials and Methods : This was a cross-sectional study conducted in four malaria-prone provinces in Iran to determine and assess the completeness and accuracy of the information collected in the malaria surveillance system. The purpose was to compare data reporting forms 3 and 4 (reporting positive cases from selected district health centers) between two time points, namely, 2009-2010 (before starting the program) and 2010-2012 (after starting the program).

  Results: The total number of reporting forms included in the study was 1927, nearly 54% from the initial time point and the rest from the final time point. The highest and lowest proportions were 94.78% and 17.30% from Iranshahr and Hormozgan University health centers, respectively. On the whole, the degree of completeness of the forms was 84% (83.7% and 85% before and after starting the program, respectively). Based on the Chi-square test, the differences were not statistically significant.

  Conclusion: Only a minor change occurred in the degree of completeness of the forms between the two time points: a 4% increase in form 4 and a 3% decrease in form 3. It can be concluded, then, that the elimination program h ad no significant effect on the completeness and accuracy of the reporting forms.