Improving neonatal and infant outcomes using point-of-care tests for sexually transmitted infections in high prevalence settings (neoSTI project)

Sexually transmitted infections in pregnancy are important but neglected causes of poor pregnancy and neonatal outcomes, including preterm birth, low birthweight, ophthalmia neonatorum, pneumonia and neonatal death. Papua New Guinea has some of the highest rates of sexually transmitted infections, such as Chlamydia trachomatis (chlamydia) and Neisseria gonorrhoeae, (gonorrhoea) in the world and also has poor maternal, neonatal and infant health indicators.

The primary objective of this project is to determine the effectiveness of point-of-care testing and same day treatment for pregnant women with sexually transmitted infections, compared with standard antenatal care, in preventing neonatal eye infections and pneumonia.

This project has the potential to directly improve the health of mothers and their newborn infants in Papua New Guinea and other high-burden, resource-limited settings globally. Adverse maternal and neonatal health are widely recognised as having important negative societal and economic consequences. The effective and widespread translation of our research findings into public health policy and practice could therefore also lead to improvements in wider human development indices in high-burden, resource-limited settings worldwide.

• Papua New Guinea

• Link to project on SNSF research database P3