This publication is a strategic framework intended to provide guidance to policy-makers and National Programmes for the prevention and control of malaria in pregnant women, who remain the main adult target group in the WHO African Region. Strengthened collaboration between malaria control and reproductive health programmes is required for the successful reduction of malaria, and it provides an opportunity for reducing maternal morbidity and mortality as well as improving the health care and well being of all Africans.
The framework describes the burden of malaria in pregnancy, recommends interventions for the prevention and control of malaria during pregnancy, proposes a strategy for delivering interventions and suggests approaches for programme development in highly endemic areas in the African Region. Guidelines for the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of malaria in pregnancy have been developed as a companion document to this framework.