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While most STI guidelines recommend STI partner notification and treatment as an integral part of STI care, little is known about how best to support people with STIs to engage their sexual partners. In sub-Saharan Africa, only 50% of people diagnosed with STI notified their partner(s) of STI, and among notified partners, only 25% sought evaluation or treatment. Without partner engagement, STI cure is not feasible. These issues are further amplified in settings with a high background HIV prevalence given the transmission synergy between curable STIs and HIV.

This talk will outline quantitative and qualitative data from two separate cohorts 1) youth in urban South Africa and 2) adult women accessing pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) and seeking pregnancy in rural Uganda, to demonstrate the challenges with STI partner notification, links to STI recurrence, and potential solutions. 

Speaker 

Dr Pooja Chitneni, Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts, US 

Dr Pooja Chitneni is an infectious diseases and internal medicine physician at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts, US. Dr Chitneni's research focus is on STI and HIV prevention and treatment in resource-limited settings. She is particularly interested in partner notification and the prevention of STI and HIV transmission. Her research takes place in South Africa and southwestern, rural Uganda.