P09.42 Screening for syphilis, hiv and haemoglobin during pregnancy in moshi municipality, tanzania: how is the health system performing?

Abstract

Introduction Maternal and neonatal morbidity and mortality are still a public health concern in most sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) countries including Tanzania. Among the strategies implemented to reduce maternal mortality rate and neonatal mortality rate and improve outcomes of mothers and newborn babies including universal coverage of quality antenatal care. However the quality of care given to ANC attendees is of great concern in developing countries. This study aimed to provide information on the proportion of pregnant women who were attending for routine ANC at Majengo and Pasua health centres that were tested for HIV, syphilis and Hb. Methods A cross sectional study was conducted in October 2013 – March 2014. Pregnant women in their 3 rd trimester who were attending for routine antenatal care at Pasua and Majengo health centres were enrolled. Interviews were done to determine if women were tested for the 3 tests mentioned in earlier pregnancy, prior to the study followed by clinical examination and blood sample collection to test for HIV, syphilis and Hb. Data were entered and analysed by using SPSS. Results A total of 536 women were enrolled. Despite being in the third trimester and had attended for routine antenatal care several times, the majority of pregnant women were not screened for syphilis (89.4%), (28.6%) were not screened for haemoglobin level and only 1% reported not to be screened for HIV. Three hundred and sixty three participants (87.9%) reported to have received iron supplement. Conclusion Syphilis is forgotten and not given the same priority as HIV in pregnant population. Strategies are required to improve its screening as it is the leading cause of stillbirths and perinatal deaths in developing countries like Tanzania Disclosure of interest statement Authors declare there is no conflict of interest.