WHO recommends the following strategies as a means of preventing or delaying the onset of drug resistance: (a) use of at least two medicines in combination, and halting the use of monotherapies for the treatment of uncomplicated malaria; (b) dispensing of treatment on the basis of a confirmed (parasite-based) diagnosis to diminish the excessive and indiscriminate use of medicines; (c) correct use of medicines of good quality, since medicines of substandard quality or standard medicines when taken at subcurative doses enhance the likelihood of parasite resistance; (d) stringent monitoring of drug resistance by therapeutic efficacy studies conducted on a regular basis in countries so that the earliest signs of drug failure are detected and the medicines policy changed to one that is effective; (e) a sustained pipeline of drug development to ensure the registration of a new, safe and effective medicine for malaria at least every five years to replace those that are being lost to resistance.