Document Type
Brief
Publication Date
2008
Abstract
Kenya and Malawi have developed national policies to prevent malaria in pregnancy. Measures to prevent malaria among antenatal clients were shown to be sustainable several years after pilot interventions ended. In Malawi, the approach has been expanded nationwide. In most malaria-endemic areas of Africa, women in their first and second pregnancies have the highest risk of acquiring malaria and, consequently, of malaria-associated anemia and low birth-weight. Two USAID-funded interventions aimed at strengthening the prevention and management of malaria in pregnancy were pilot-tested at the district level in Kenya (1998–2002) and Malawi (1998–2004). As noted in this brief, the goal was to reduce malaria illness and death among children and mothers primarily by: giving intermittent presumptive treatment of sulfadoxide-pyrimethamine to pregnant women visiting antenatal clinics, and promoting the use of insecticide-treated bed nets by pregnant women. In 2005 and 2006, FRONTIERS conducted case studies to assess the sustainability of these initiatives, documented best practices for promoting scale-up, and drew lessons for replication in other East and Southern African countries where malaria is endemic.
Recommended Citation
"Malaria in pregnancy pilot projects nationally adopted in Kenya and Malawi," FRONTIERS OR Summary. Washington, DC: Population Council, 2008.
DOI
10.31899/rh14.1011
Language
English
Project
Frontiers in Reproductive Health
Included in
Demography, Population, and Ecology Commons, Family, Life Course, and Society Commons, Gender and Sexuality Commons, International Public Health Commons, Maternal and Child Health Commons, Medicine and Health Commons, Women's Health Commons