Background: Microscopic diagnosis of Geimsa stained thick and thin blood films by skilledrnmicroscopists has remained the standard laboratory method for the diagnosis of malaria.rnHowever, diagnosis of malaria with this method is problematic since interpretation of resultsrnrequires considerable expertise particularly at low parasite level.rnObjective: The objective of the study was to evaluate the performance of laboratoryrnprofessionals in diagnosis of malaria/plasmodium species in Hawassa city.rnMethods: A cross-sectional study design was employed. Among a total of eighty laboratoryrnprofessionals working in public and private health facilities, seventy two were willing tornparticipate with a response rate of 90%(72/80). Information on demographic characteristics wasrncollected using a self-administered questionnaire. A total of 10 pre-validated panels of malariarnslides were then distributed to assess laboratory professionals' performances on detection,rndifferentiation of common species of malaria and quantification of parasite density.rnResults: The mean age of the participants was 27 (SD= 4.1) years and more than half ofrnparticipants (56.9%) were female. Thirty-two (44.4%) of the participants were from tworngovernment hospitals, 9(12.5%) were from three private hospitals and 31(43.1%) were from sixrngovernment health centers. Fourteen (19.4%) of participants correctly reported all the tenrndistributed slides and 58(80.6%) missed at least one slide. Overall, the sensitivity and specificityrnof participants in detection of malaria parasites were 82% and 96.5% respectively and had 88%rnagreement with reference readers. The overall agreement between participants and referencernreaders for identification of malaria species was 74.3%; relatively the agreement was lower forrngovernment health centers (69%).rnConclusion: The overall sensitivity and specificity of participants in detection of malariarnparasites were 82% and 96.5% respectively; however, they had low (74.3%) agreement inrnidentification of different species of malaria. Especially, lower agreement was reported forrnparasites at low density and identification of mixed infection. Participants from governmentrnhealth center were found to have low performances in identification of malaria parasite.