Eliminating Mother-to-Child Transmission of Syphilis: Chinese Practice Before and During COVID-19 Pandemics

Mother-to-child transmission (MTCT) of syphilis remains a leading cause of stillbirth and death among neonates in many developing countries. In 2007, WHO launched the global elimination of MTCT (EMTCT) of syphilis. Given the high burden of congenital syphilis, China subsequently released the specific national EMTCT policies and programs to reduce MTCT of syphilis. The congenital syphilis incidence rate per 100 000 live births in China has markedly decreased from 69.9 in 2013 to 11.9 in 2019. However, due to the global pandemic of COVID-19, the current measures for eliminating MTCT of syphilis are great challenged. In this article, we summarize the strategies and measures for the EMTCT of syphilis in China in the past 20 years, point out that we have made remarkable achievements due to the national health policy support and strong leadership of the government. In the context of COVID-19 pandemics, strengthening emergency response to the regional outbreaks of COVID-19 and adopting safe, rapid, early and high-quality clinical care to ensure that 100% of pregnant women receive prenatal syphilis testing services, ensuring the availability of Benzathine penicillin for the treatment, and strengthening the closed-loop management of pregnant women and newborns infected with syphilis are key measures to determine the effect of MTCT of syphilis. Lessons from China may be valuable for other countries that are planning to eliminate MTCT of syphilis.