PHA-Exchange> Cheap drug to make childbirth safer in poor countries

[Claudio]

From: "Vern Weitzel" <vern at coombs.anu.edu.au>
http://www.scidev.net/News/index.cfm?fuseaction=readNews&itemid=3141&language=1

Cheap drug to make childbirth safer in poor countries
TV Padma
Source: SciDev.Net

The abortion drug misoprostol can be used to help save the lives of women 
who bleed heavily after
giving birth, say researchers. The condition is a major killer of women in 
developing countries.

The results of a clinical trial in rural India published today (6 October) 
in The Lancet indicate
that misoprostol reduced the incidence of postpartum haemorrhage by almost 
half.

Death due to postpartum haemorrhage accounts for almost 30 per cent of 
maternal deaths in India,
where nearly half of all births take place in the home or in facilities 
without a trained
gynaecologist or obstetrician in attendance.

"The researchers showed that giving women misoprostol after birth is a safe, 
inexpensive means of
preventing postpartum haemorrhage from occurring". "This advance has the 
potential to save thousands of lives each year."

The researchers say it is "currently the only available pharmacological 
option for preventing
postpartum haemorrhage and reducing postpartum blood loss in these 
communities".

A major concern is the potential for the misuse of misprostol.

The drug is available, although illegally, as an over-the-counter pill. 
Approved for use in India in
2002, it is only supposed to be taken under medical supervision, yet it is 
sold in several pharmacies.

Link to full paper in The Lancet*
http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140673606695226/fulltext
Reference: The Lancet  368, 9543 (2006)