Elimination &Epidemiology &Malaria in Pregnancy Bill Brieger | 25 Jun 2013 05:25 am
Low levels of placental parasitemia among women delivering in health facilities in Zanzibar: policy implications for IPTp
Presented at Jhpiego’s Mini-University on 24 June 2013 in Baltimore by Marya Plotkin, Elaine Roman, and Maryjane Lacoste
Malaria in pregnancy (MIP) is a threat to the pregnant women, the unborn child and the newborn and infant. Intermittent Preventive Treatment during pregnancy (IPTp) is one of the few interventions available that specifically targets and protects pregnant women. As malaria prevalence drops when countries aim at malaria elimination, we need to examine the continued role of IPTp and search for alternatives.
From August 2011 to September 2012, Jhpiego partnered with the Zanzibar Ministry of Health to conduct a study looking at the prevalence of placental malaria infection among women delivering in selected health facilities in Zanzibar who had not had IPTp during the course of their pregnancy. The community-level malaria positivity rate in Zanzibar declined from as high as 20% in 2005 to 1.6% in 2011. In Zanzibar as in the rest of Tanzania, IPTp coverage has been quite low, but pregnant women have access to long-lasting insecticide-treated nets (LLINs) and indoor residual spraying (IRS) is practised in the islands.
Midwives in six clinics in in Unguja and Pemba tested the women using PCR at delivery. Of the 1,356 women with no IPTp exposure enrolled in the study, only nine (0.6%) were found to have placental malaria (95% CI 0.2–1%). Thus, even without benefit of IPTp, other interventions appear to be protecting pregnant women to some degree.
Estimations of the costs of IPTp program put the annual expenditure at $114,678, while the annual cost of intermittent screening and treatment with RDTs (ISTp) would be $155,294. Given the extraordinarily low prevalence of malaria in pregnancy, as well as pilot experience of testing in the ANC setting, there is a strong argument for adopting ISTp and dropping IPTp in Zanzibar.
To do so, the authors argue, thresholds of prevalence or incidence of malaria infection must be set in advance in order to trigger a reconsideration of the IPTp decision, and surveillance of malaria infection in pregnancy must be strengthened.
WHO has recently issued new guidance recommending continuation of IPTp where it is currently being practiced, making Zanzibar’s decision to maintain or discontinue IPTp of particular interest to the malaria in pregnancy community. Better guidance is needed on MIP services as countries move closer to malaria elimination.