Sexually transmitted and other reproductive tract infections - A guide to essential practice

2005 - 191 pages

 

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Preface

This publication is intended to assist health care managers and practitioners in resource-limited reproductive health care settings around the world to meet the needs of individuals who may be at risk of reproductive tract infections (RTIs).

It is assumed that readers are familiar with certain clinical knowledge, such as drugs and their dosages, although they may not have experience with management of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and RTIs.

The publication reflects the involvement of a large number of international experts who reviewed and debated aspects of the document to ensure that recommendations are based on the best available evidence as well as on what are considered favourable public health outcomes. Additionally, in order to validate the usefulness of the recommendations for reproductive health care settings around the world, the manual was thoroughly reviewed by practitioners and programme managers in a number of countries, prior to publication. Finally, this Guide has been pre-field tested in five countries: Brazil, China, Kenya, Jamaica and Latvia.

A companion publication to this Guide is available, entitled: Guidelines for the management of sexually transmitted infections. This publication presents the revised recommendations, both for a syndromic approach to the management of patients with STI symptoms and for the treatment of specific STIs, based on evidence and epidemiological surveillance data from around the world. It also provides information on the notification and management of sexual partners and on STIs in children and adolescents.

Another companion publication, Sexually transmitted and other reproductive tract infections: a pocket guide for essential practice is under development. This publication will contain a summary of essential information for ease of reference to management flowcharts, treatment tables, counselling points, and other information in a convenient-to-carry format. The pocket guide is intended to serve as a working tool for use by providers in their everyday interactions with their clients.

 

Acknowledgements

This practice guide is a collaborative effort of WHO�s Department of Reproductive Health and Research, Family Health International (FHI) and The Population Council�s FRONTIERS in Reproductive Health Program. It is based on the work of a large group of experts, who participated in consultations or reviews. WHO would like to thank the members of the technical review panel: Dinesh Agarwal, Kamal Alami, Adele Benzaken, Lalit Kumar Bhutani, Ward Cates, Anupong Chitwarakorn, Patricia Claeys, Gina Dallabetta, Patricia J. Garcia, David Grimes, Sarah Hawkes, Marie Laga, Gunta Lazdane, Philippe Mayaud, Andre Meheus, Linda Morison, Charles Morrison, Telma Queiroz, Laima Rudze, Moshira El-Shafei, Guida Silva, Jim Shelton, Marleen Temmerman, Johannes van Dam, Eddy van Dyck, Teodora Elvira Wi, and Guang Zeng.

Richard Steen (external consultant), Nathalie Broutet (WHO), and Irina Yacobson (FHI) constituted the core writing team and were leaders of the technical panel.

Ian Askew (Frontiers/Population Council), Nathalie Broutet (WHO), Florence Carayon (FHI), Saiqa Mullick (Frontiers/Population Council), and Robert Rice (FHI) coordinated the writing of the Guide.

        

WHO gratefully acknowledges the contributions of the many reviewers who assisted in field-testing the guide in Brazil, China, Jamaica, Kenya, and Latvia.

This publication was funded through Contraceptive Technology Research Agreement 96-05 CCP-A-00-95-00022-02 to Family Health International (FHI) and the FRONTIERS in Reproductive Health Cooperative Agreement HRN-A-0098-0001200 to the Population Council from the US Agency for International Development (USAID). The contents do not necessarily reflect FHI, the Population Council or USAID views and policy.

 

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ISBN 92 4 159265 6 (NLM classification: WC 140)

http://www.who.int/reproductive-health/publications/rtis_gep/index.htm