ABSTRACT

Jones, Heidi E., Sheri A. Lippman, Adriana A. Pinho, Carla G. Luppi, and Janneke van de Wijgert. 2006. "Partner-delivered medication for sexually transmitted infections: Findings from Brazil," Gaceta Médica de México 142(S2): 69–76.

Background
Notifying and treating sexual partners of women or men diagnosed with a sexually transmitted infection (STI) is imperative to reducing STI transmission.

Methods
As part of a study to examine the introduction of home-based STI testing and rapid-point-of-care diagnostics in a low-income population of women in São Paulo, Brazil, we offered 108 women diagnosed with an STI the opportunity to contact partner(s) herself, have a clinician contact partner(s) or provide her with medication for partner(s).

Results
Offering partner-delivered medication to women with gonorrhea, chlamydia, and/or trichomoniasis, in addition to the standard referral strategies, resulted in high rates of partner treatment, with 80 percent of reported male partners and 96 percent of notified male partners treated. Type of partnership strongly predicted whether the partner was successfully treated. More than half of women interviewed reported partner-delivered medication as their first choice for partner notification in the future.

Conclusion
As diagnostic capability for STIs improves in Brazil and other Latin America countries, offering expanded options for partner notification will be an important tool to reduce infection rates. Partner-delivered therapy should be prioritized as it increases the number of partners treated. Introduction of this method will require discussions with providers to remove potential barriers to implementation.

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