Table 4 The top research priorities based on the expert CHNRI process for preconception care in low- and middle-income countries to reduce maternal and child mortality and morbidity
From: Born Too Soon: Care before and between pregnancy to prevent preterm births: from evidence to action
1. | How can preconception nutrition interventions, such as diet diversity, micronutrient supplementation/fortification and achieving optimal BMI, be integrated into broader nutrition and/or health programs and delivered in a cost-effective manner? |
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2. | What are the public health approaches to regulate and reduce exposures to environmental tobacco smoke? |
3. | How can effective interventions to prevent adolescent pregnancy and repeat adolescent pregnancy be delivered at scale? |
4. | What are the public health approaches to regulate and reduce environmental exposures to smoke stoves? |
5. | What approaches work to increase the use of effective contraception, especially long-acting methods, particularly in the postnatal and post-abortion time periods? |
6. | What are effective, affordable and feasible means to screen for hypertension affecting girls and women before conception? |
7. | What are the most effective strategies to scale up the prevention/detection/treatment of malaria and helminthiasis to reduce anemia in women of reproductive age? |
8. | What effective strategies can be developed to modify individuals' behavior to reduce their environmental exposures to smoke stoves? |
9. | What effective, affordable strategies could be developed to provide effective STI/HIV identification and management, including early antiretroviral therapy, as part of preconception care, and how could these be adapted to maximize uptake by adolescents? |
10. | How can task-shifting to community health workers to screen for chronic conditions among women during the preconception period and take appropriate action (such as referring to specialist, counseling, refer to support groups) be effectively enabled? |
11. | How can the effect and cost of different delivery strategies for an immunization package for girls, including rubella and tetanus and others as appropriate, be best developed and evaluated? |
12. | How can the supply chain for commodities for effective preconception services (e.g., nutrition, contraception, medications for chronic and infectious diseases) be integrated with other logistical systems so that it is more reliable and effective? |