Prevention of Malaria in Pregnant Women
Soon-to-be mother Halima Athmani is taking her first dose of tablets to prevent malaria as part of her antenatal visit at an urban health care facility in Tanzania’s Morogoro district. Read the full story. Source: Karie Atkinson/USAID |
Each year, more than 30 million African women living in malaria-endemic areas become pregnant and are at risk for malaria. Intermittent preventive treatment of malaria during pregnancy (IPTp) involves two to three doses of sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine (SP) administered to a pregnant woman during the second and third trimesters of pregnancy. Since more than seventy percent of pregnant women in Africa attend antenatal clinics at least once during their pregnancy, the provision of IPTp during antenatal care visits is both feasible and attractive. The regimen protects pregnant women from possible death and anemia and also prevents malaria-related low birthweight in infants, which is responsible for between 100,000 and 200,000 infant deaths annually in Africa. PMI activities include purchasing SP, training health care workers in administering the drug, and providing information about IPTp to pregnant women, distributing bednets to pregnant women and supporting prompt diagnosis and treatment of malaria in pregnant women.
Voices from the Field
- Mozambique: Free Mosquito Nets Draw Women to Health Facilities
- Tanzania: Preventing Malaria in Pregnant Women Through Training Health Workers
- Zambia: Zambia Reports Significant Progress in Control and Prevention
Additional Resources
- Challenges in Concurrent Management of Malaria and HIV in Pregnancy in Sub-Saharan Africa
- A Strategic Framework for Malaria Prevention and Control During Pregnancy in the African Region [PDF, 638KB]
- The Burden of Malaria in Pregnancy in Malaria-Endemic Areas [PDF, 62KB]
- The Burden of Co-Infection with Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 and Malaria in Pregnant Women in Sub-Saharan Africa [PDF, 314KB]
- Reduction of Malaria During Pregnancy by Permethrin-treated Bed Nets in an Area of Intese Perennial Malaria Transmission in Western Kenya [PDF, 200KB]