STOPMiP, the acronym for Intermittent Screening or Treatment or Intermittent Prevention therapy for the control of Malaria in Pregnancy, is a clinical trial conducted in two districts in Indonesia. The two sites are in Southwest Sumba and Timika in eastern Indonesia where 10 to 14% of pregnant women are infected with malaria at any time and pose a substantial public health problem.
The trial is a collaboration project between the Malaria Epidemiology Unit of LSTM and the Eijkman Institute for Molecular Biology Eijkman in Jakarta and is funded by DfID, MRC and the Wellcome Trust under UK’s Global Health Trial Schemes. Chief investigator is LSTM’s Professor Feiko ter Kuile and the trial is being coordinated jointly by Dr Rukhsana Ahmed of LSTM and Dr Din Syafruddin of the Eijkman Institute.
The trial is important as it is the first time that intermittent preventative treatment (IPTp) is being assessed in Asia. The main objective of the trial is to determine if intermittent preventative treatment (IPTp) with artemisinin combination drug dihydroartemisinin-piperaquine (DHP) or intermittent screening and treatment (ISTp) with DHP using rapid diagnostic test (RDT) in the second or third trimester of the pregnancy is more effective than the current strategy of single screening and treatment (SSTp) with DHP among women protected by long lasting insecticide treated nets (LLITN).
The findings of this study, together with an assessment of feasibility and cost effectiveness of each of the methods mentioned will be used to inform malaria prevention policy for pregnant women in Indonesia and other parts of Southeast Asia.
The first recruitment started in May 2013 and the trial will continue for 2.5 years. LSTM cooperates closely withLondon School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine; UNICEF Indonesia; MOH Indonesia and the Menzies School of Health Research, Darwin, Australia