For the implementation of the intermittent treatment plan for malaria during pregnancy, the Ministry of Public Health, through the National Malaria Control Program (PNLP), organized a funding mobilization meeting on July 30 in a hotel in N’Djamena.
According to the PNLP coordinator, Dr Mahamat Saleh Issakha Diar, Chad has chosen Intermittent Preventive Treatment (IPT) as a strategy for preventing malaria in pregnant women. As a result, three tablets of Sulfadoxine Pyrethamine (SP) are administered to them every month until delivery, at the Prenatal Consultation (CPN). However, the percentage of pregnant women seen in health facilities who received IPT3 remained stationary (35% on average) between 2019 and 2022. The average loss between TPl1 (intermittent preventive treatment 1) and TPl3 (intermittent preventive treatment 3) is 56% per year.
To remedy this situation, he emphasizes, the PNLP has developed an action plan to enable at least 60% of pregnant women seen at the CPN to benefit from TPI3 by the end of 2026.
Citing examples of countries that have successfully implemented IPT, such as Tanzania, Ghana, Uganda and Zambia, WHO Country Representative in Chad, Dr John Eyong Efobi, emphasizes that IPT is an effective tool to improve the health of pregnant women and newborns in malaria-affected areas.
Thanking the partners for their presence at this meeting, the Minister of Public Health, Dr Abdelmadjid Abderrahim, called on the partners to be generous in order to enable the ministry to collect the funds necessary for the implementation of this plan.
