WANTAIM

Project Summary

Women in many low-income countries worldwide face a high and unacceptable burden of adverse pregnancy outcomes.

Curable, sexually transmitted and genital infections (STIs), such as chlamydia, gonorrhoea, trichomonas and bacterial vaginosis, are major contributors to this disease burden but the majority of infections go untreated because most infections are asymptomatic, and affordable, easy to use and accurate diagnostic tests are unavailable in such settings. At the same time, there is conflicting evidence on the potential risks and benefits of STI screening and treatment in pregnancy, hindering policy and practice and leading to calls for definitive field trials.

The aim of the WANTAIM Trial is to measure the effectiveness, health system requirements, cost-effectiveness and acceptability of antenatal point-of-care testing and treatment of sexually transmitted and genital infections to improve birth outcomes in high-burden, low-income settings.

Key Project Information

Dates: February 2016 - January 2018

Principal Investigator: Dr Neha Batura

Partners: Papua New Guinea Institute of Medical Research; University of Melbourne; University of Technology, Sydney; Milne Bay Provincial Health Authority; University of Bern, Switzerland; Burnet Institute, Melbourne; University of Papua New Guinea; London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine; Kirby Institute; University of New South Wales

Location: Papua New Guinea

Funding: Department for International Development; Medical Research Council; Wellcome Trust; National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC); Swiss National Science Foundation

Contact: n.batura@ucl.ac.uk

Website: Project website