Introduction Malaria remains a serious public health issue, and sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is still disproportionately burdened with the disease. Efficient disease tracking in both public and private healthcare points is required to consolidate elimination efforts.
Considerable amounts of malaria cases in the private sector, especially community pharmacies, are not captured into routine surveillance systems. This scoping review aims to systematically collate the existing evidence on the facilitators and barriers to malaria surveillance in community pharmacies (CPs) and over-the-counter medicine sellers (OTCMS) in SSA.
Methods and analysis We will retrieve all relevant studies (published and completed but unpublished) through searches in PubMed, CINAHL, Scopus, Web of Science and Hinari from inception to 15 June 2026. Searches will be conducted without language restrictions; however, full-text inclusion will be limited to English-language publications due to resource constraints.
Titles and abstracts of non-English articles will be thoroughly screened using online-assisted translation tools such as Google Translate to assess their potential eligibility.
BMJ Open published a clinical update in Research Highlights on 22 Apr 2026.
The item focuses on Facilitators and barriers to malaria surveillance in community pharmacies and over-the-counter medicine sellers in sub-Saharan Africas health sector: a scoping review protocol.
Review the original article for the full source wording and details.