We'll send you stories from our maternal and infant health work.
A fingerprick. A fifteen-minute test. A shot of penicillin. Here is what those three things can change.
Syphilis-Free Start: 2025 in Review
Congenital syphilis causes over 220,000 preventable stillbirths and newborn deaths every year. Yet the solution is remarkably simple: a dual HIV/syphilis test costs just $0.15 more than the HIV test most pregnant women already receive, and a single penicillin treatment prevents over 80% of adverse outcomes.
In 2025, more than 1 million pregnant women were screened for syphilis in countries where we provide technical assistance — enabling early detection and treatment that prevented thousands of stillbirths and newborn deaths.
In Liberia, national screening coverage has reached 88% and treatment coverage 94%. Four counties have already graduated to full government ownership. In Zambia, over 2,000 health facilities and 20,000 workers have been trained. And in 2025, we launched a new program in Côte d'Ivoire, with a target of reaching 3.6 million women over five years.
Evidence Action was also selected from over 4,000 organizations to receive funding from Pivotal's $250 million Action for Women's Health initiative, launched by Melinda French Gates — recognition of what this program has demonstrated is possible.
At an estimated $20 to $410 per DALY averted in highest-burden geographies, Syphilis-Free Start ranks among the world's most cost-effective maternal health interventions — and one of the most neglected.
evidenceaction.org/focus-areas/maternal-and-newborn-health