Intermittent Preventive Treatment of Malaria in Pregnancy
Summary
Intermittent preventive treatment in pregnancy (IPTp) is a cornerstone of malaria control in endemic regions, designed to protect pregnant women and their unborn children from Plasmodium falciparum infection. The World Health Organization recommends administering at least three curative doses of sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine (SP) at monthly intervals from the second trimester, delivered as part of routine antenatal care (ANC). IPTp reduces placental parasitaemia, maternal anaemia and the incidence of low birthweight, while also contributing to lower neonatal and infant mortality. Despite the demonstration of its clinical benefits, coverage of IPTp remains suboptimal across many high‐burden settings. Key obstacles include stock-outs of SP, inconsistent integration into ANC services, variations in health-worker training and guidance, and inequities in access related to socioeconomic status and geographic location. Emerging strategies to enhance coverage focus on task-sharing with community health workers, integration of IPTp with other public health campaigns such as seasonal malaria chemoprevention (SMC), and the reinforcement of supply-chain and data-management systems. Ongoing surveillance of SP resistance, coupled with efforts to sustain high ANC attendance and clear policy directives, is essential for maintaining the efficacy and scalability of IPTp programmes and for safeguarding maternal and neonatal health in malaria-endemic regions.
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Intermittent Preventive Treatment of Malaria in Pregnancy publication trend
The graph below shows the total number of articles in intermittent preventive treatment of malaria in pregnancy across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).
Technical terms
Intermittent preventive treatment in pregnancy (IPTp): Prophylactic administration of antimalarial drugs to pregnant women at predetermined intervals to prevent malaria infection and its complications.
Sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine (SP): A fixed‐dose antimalarial combination used for IPTp owing to its long half-life and established safety profile in pregnancy.
Antenatal care (ANC): A series of routine health‐service contacts for pregnant women, during which preventive, diagnostic and therapeutic interventions—including IPTp—are delivered.
Seasonal malaria chemoprevention (SMC): The intermittent administration of full therapeutic courses of antimalarials to vulnerable populations during the peak transmission season, traditionally targeting children but increasingly explored for integration with IPTp.
References
- The impact of community delivery of intermittent preventive treatment of malaria in pregnancy on its coverage in four sub-Saharan African countries (Democratic Republic of the Congo, Madagascar, Mozambique, and Nigeria): a quasi-experimental multicentre evaluation. The Lancet Global Health (2023).
- The readiness of malaria services and uptake of intermittent preventive treatment in pregnancy in six sub-Saharan countries. Journal of Global Health (2024).
- Increasing the uptake of Intermittent Preventive Treatment of malaria in pregnancy using Sulfadoxine-Pyrimethamine (IPTp-SP) through seasonal malaria chemoprevention channel delivery: protocol of a multicenter cluster randomized implementation trial in Mali and Burkina Faso. BMC Public Health (2024).
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