RESEARCH l n id

, efforts have been made to improve routine sur-veillance data through standardisation of case definitions, Zambia Full list of author information is available at the end of the articleBackground Malaria remains a major cause of morbidity and mortality in sub-Saharan Africa with at least 75 % of deaths in chil-dren less than five years of age ascribed to the disease [1]. Most malaria endemic countries are deploying indoor re-sidual spraying (IRS) and/or long-lasting insecticidal nets (LLINs) to combat malaria transmission [2,3]. Measuring the impact of malaria control on reducing disease morbidity and mortality is essential [4] for ensuring the successful implementation of the programme. Traditionally, the impact of malaria control interventions have been evaluated using repeated population-based sur-veys to determine parasite prevalence, clinical or laboratory confirmed disease incidence and all-cause mortality [5]. Parasite prevalence in children has generally been the pre-ferred surrogate measure for malaria transmission intensity [6], with routine surveillance data treated with suspicion due to high variability in quality [5]. * Correspondence