The prioritisation of curable sexually transmitted infections among pregnant women in Zambia and Papua New Guinea: Qualitative insights

Curable sexually transmitted infections (STIs) are neglected in public health policy, services
and society at large. Effective interventions are available for some STI but seem not to be
prioritised at global, regional or local levels. Zambia and Papua New Guinea (PNG) have a
high burden of STIs among pregnant women but little is known about the prioritisation of STI
treatment and care among this group. We undertook a qualitative study to explore how STIs
are prioritised among pregnant women in local health systems in Zambia and PNG. Semistructured
interviews were conducted with 19 key informants—health care workers providing
antenatal care, and policy and programme advisers across the two countries. Audio
recordings were transcribed and translated into English and stored, managed, and coded in
NVivo v12. Analysis used deductive and inductive thematic analysis. Findings were coded
against the World Health Organization health system building blocks. Participants spoke
about the stigma of STIs at the community level. They described a broad understanding of
morbidity associated with undiagnosed and untreated STIs in pregnant women. The importance
of testing and treating STIs in pregnancy was well recognised but many spoke of constraints
in providing these services due to stock outs of test kits for HIV and syphilis and
antibiotics. In both settings, syndromic management remains the mainstay for treating curable
STIs. Clinical practice and treatment were not in alignment with current STI guidelines
in either country, with participants recognising the need for mentorship and in-service training,
as well as the availability of commodities to support their clinical practice. Local disruptions
to screening and management of syphilis, HIV and other curable STIs were widely
reported in both countries. There is a need to galvanise priority at national and regional levels
to ensure ongoing access to supplies needed to undertake STI testing and treatment.