The Teulakao project aims to develop and evaluate a model to continuously improve the coverage and quality of HIV, HBV, and syphilis testing in pregnant women and their infants, strengthening maternal and child healthcare and supporting the WHO’s Triple Elimination goal in Lao PDR.
Context
With half of the Lao population under 24 years old, high fertility rate, high pregnancy rate among adolescents, over 23% of the population living below the poverty line, the Laos healthcare system is facing major challenges. While the infant mortality rate has decreased from 80 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2000 to 31 in 2019, access to optimal antenatal care for pregnant women and their partners, as well as neonatal and well-baby clinic services for infants, remains insufficient and the prevention and treatment of infections transmitted from mother to child needs improvement. Barriers include logistical challenges (distance, road conditions, service system delivery), stigma, lack of information, and out-of-pocket costs for patients.
Description
The Teulakao project partners with young women, partners, community representatives, village health workers, health care workers, government bodies and other local stakeholders and NGOs to design processes streamlining health interventions recommended by national authorities or World Health Organization (WHO) to prevent and treat HIV, syphilis and hepatitis B in pregnant women, partners and infants. This pilot project phase in 3 districts in Vientiane province includes:
- Information campaign about the benefit of antenatal care, addressing issues, including gender related inequalities;
- Access to simultaneous testing for HIV, syphilis, and hepatitis B for pregnant women and partners early during pregnancy. Provision of prophylaxis to prevent mother-to-child transmission for pregnant women and/or infants;
- Data collection through dedicated information systems to monitor and evaluate the implementation (access to care and management of pregnant women, partners and infants), assess progress toward the triple elimination goal, and prepare for scalability.
Impact
The Teulakao project will improve pregnant women, partners and infants’ access to diagnosis, prevention and treatment of HIV, syphilis, and hepatitis B, enhance the quality of care, in order to meet the criteria for WHO triple elimination.
