pregnancy

WHO  has  included  intermittent  preventive  treatment  in  pregnancy  (IPTp)  with  sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine  as  an  important  malaria  intervention  since  2012.1  Although  other candidate therapies remain under investigation and despite  waning  sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine  antimalarial  efficacy  due  to  increasing  parasite  resistance,  IPTp  with  sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine  remains  a  key  component  of   the   management   of   pregnant   women   in   malaria-endemic areas. In areas of high-grade parasite resistance, the   use   of   IPTp   with   sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine   is   associated with improved birth weight, suggesting that there are benefits of beyond antimalarial efficacy.

Malaria in pregnancy, including asymptomatic infection, has a detrimental impact on foetal development. Individual patient data (IPD) meta-analysis was conducted to compare the association between antimalarial treatments and adverse pregnancy outcomes, including placental malaria, accompanied with the gestational age at diagnosis of uncomplicated falciparum malaria infection.

Many studies on malaria knowledge, attitude and practice among pregnant women have been conducted in Hausa speaking communities in Nigeria. Despite this, no standard and uniform instrument for assessing this important public health problem has been developed in the Hausa language, even though it is widely spoken. The aim of this study was to develop and validate a questionnaire in Hausa language assessing information, motivation, and behavioural skills for malaria prevention during pregnancy.

In the opening to WHO's World Malaria Report 2019, subtitled Leaving no one behind in the march to a malaria-free world, WHO's Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus noted that the scourge of malaria continues to strike hardest against pregnant women and children in Africa. The Director-General reported that “some 11 million pregnant women in sub-Saharan Africa were infected with malaria and, consequently, nearly 900 000 children were born with a low birthweight”. Furthermore, he noted that “Malaria in pregnancy compromises the mother's health and puts her at greater risk of death. It impacts the health of the fetus, leading to prematurity and low birthweight, major contributors to neonatal and infant mortality.”