IPTp &Malaria in Pregnancy &Private Sector Bill Brieger | 25 Jul 2007 06:33 pm
FBOs fight malaria in pregnancy
The Ministry of Health in Uganda estimates that private, not-for-profit health (PNPH) facilities account for 30% of all facilities in Uganda, and importantly around 85% of these are located in rural communities. USAID’s ACCESS project has demonstrated that FBO health facilities, an important component of the PNPH sector, can play a major role in increasing the delivery and uptake of malaria in pregnancy (MIP) control interventions in the Kasese District of Uganda. The project was a joint effort of ACCESS partners, particularly Interchurch Medical Assistance (IMA) and JHPIEGO.
The project worked with the Uganda Catholic, Muslim and Protestant Medical Bureaus in five health facilities and upgraded the malaria technical skills of all antenatal care (ANC) staff using JHPIEGO training materials. In addition “community owned resource persons” (village volunteers) and religious leaders were trained to help mobilize women to attend ANC. ANC is a key platform for delivering malaria in pregnancy control interventions.
Over the nine-month intervention 27% of women attending ANC were given Insecticide Treated Nets (ITNs), which were supplied by the project. The facilities normally stocked sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine (SP) for intermittent preventive therapy (IPT). By the end of the project the the proportion of ANC attendees receiving their first dose of IPT rose from 43% to 94%, while those receiving IPT2 increased from 27% to 71%. The Uganda Demographic and Health Survey for 2006 found only 50% of pregnant women nationally had received IPT1, and 17%, IPT2.
Often donor in-service training programs focus exclusively on public sector health workers and neglect those in the private and NGO sectors. In many malaria-endemic countries religious mission health services deliver a large portion of care, and as seen in this Ugandan example, can play a major role in delivering malaria in pregnancy control services if their capacity is improved. Fortunately, these FBO facilities did stock SP from which they could plan and deliver IPT. At the time they did not benefit from supplies of ITNs, although the country was receiving ITNs through Global Fund Grants. It is therefore important for National Malaria Control Programs to integrate FBOs and PNPH facilities into both training and commodity supply programs to ensure full protection of pregnant women from malaria. Since this project was done in collaboration with the Ministry of Health (MOH) in Uganda there is hope that collaboration will continue between the faith mission medical boards and the MOH to expand these MIP services to other FBO facilities.