Electronic Partner Notification & Pharmacy–based Expedited Partner Therapy to Improve STI Management

Call for Proposal: CA22-0015

Programme title: 2022-2023 Joint PAHO/TDR Impact Grants for Regional Priorities

Project ID: P22-00863

Project Title: Electronic Partner Notification & Pharmacy–based Expedited Partner Therapy to Improve STI Management

Executive Summary / Abstract: Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) are a public health concern in Latin American, new strategies to interrupt STI transmission are needed. Partner notification (PN) refers to the communication, by index cases to their sex partners, of their potential exposure to the STI(s) the index cases have been diagnosed with, so that their partners can access testing and treatment. Conventional PN has limited scope as index cases tend to contact mostly stable partners but not casual partners; for that reason, electronic Partner Notification (ePN) emerged as a good alternative that facilitates notification through text messages sent to the cellphone of sexual partners so that they can look for STI testing or treatment. Moreover, expedited partner therapy (EPT) facilitates access to treatment among the index cases’ sex partners, delivered by index cases themselves, or picked up from pharmacies, without the intervention of a health provider. Some experiences show that EPT enhances partner notification, however there is no evidence of either strategy implemented in government STI clinics. For that reason, the aim of this study is to evaluate the implementation and use, among clients diagnosed with STIs in 2 public STI clinics in Lima, of an ePN tool, and a pharmacy-based EPT system