WHO Updates Guidance on Intermittent Preventive Treatment of Malaria in Pregnancy

Bill Brieger,  Professor in the Health Systems Program of the Department of International Health at Johns Hopkins University and the Senior Malaria Adviser for JHPIEGO, recently shared a post on his blog, Malaria Matters, about the recent updates to WHO guidelines for the delivery of intermittent preventive treatment (IPTp) of malaria in pregnancy. The new policies aim to synchronize the delivery of IPTp with the antenatal care platform in order to increase coverage of the intervention.

Excerpt from the post:

Intermittent preventive treatment for pregnant women (IPTp) with sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine (SP) remains a powerful tool against malaria in countries with moderate to high stable malaria transmission. Yet there has been confusion, lapses and very poor coverage with this intervention with little progress toward the Roll back malaria target of 80% coverage with two doses during pregnancy.  WHO has recently revisited this strategy and has issued revised recommendations reproduced fully below. Importantly, these also address some of the myths about IPTp with SP. Please share these widely with program managers and health workers.

Read the full post and learn more about the updates to the guidelines here.

For more information about malaria in pregnancy, visit the MHTF Malaria in Pregnancy topic page here.