Scaling Up Antenatal Syphilis Screening in Mozambique: Transforming Policy to Action

• Published in: Sexually transmitted diseases 2007-07, Vol.34 (7), p.S31-S36
• Main Authors: GLOYD, STEPHEN, MONTOYA, PABLO, FLORIANO, FLORENCIA, CHADREQUE, MARIAANA CORREIA, PFEIFFER, JAMES, GIMBEL-SHERR, KENNETH
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Antenatal; Female; Goals; Health care policy; Health Policy; Humans; Infant, Newborn; Infectious Disease Transmission, Vertical - prevention & control; Leadership; Mass Screening - statistics & numerical data; Maternal-Child Health Centers - organization & administration; Medical screening; Mozambique; Pregnancy; Pregnancy Complications, Infectious - prevention & control; Screening; Syphilis; Syphilis - diagnosis; Syphilis - drug therapy; Syphilis - prevention & control; Syphilis - transmission; Syphilis, Congenital - prevention & control; Syphilis, Congenital - transmission; Treponema pallidum; Women
• ISSN: 0148-5717; 1537-4521
• DOI: 10.1097/01.olq.0000264586.49616.72

Objectives: This paper examines the decade-long scale-up process of antenatal syphilis screening through Mozambique's National Health System. Goal: The primary goal is to provide lessons learned in the provision of integrated antenatal care resource-poor settings and identify key challenges to successful scale-up. Study Design: We documented health systems activities associated with improvements in the proportion of women tested, treated, and partners treated for syphilis. Results: The proportion of women in antenatal visit screened for syphilis in the two target provinces has risen from 5% in 1992 to between 60% and 95% consistently since 1999. This success required multiple levels of health system strengthening. Conclusions: The Mozambique experience shows that key elements to effective antenatal syphilis screening include adequate workforce, facilities, coherent systems of care, community involvement, donor management, advocacy, and leadership.