This comment in the explores the role of policy and research in using the prevention of postpartum hemorrhage and suggest a joint meeting by WHO and FIGO to revisit the 2009 statement by WHO which does not recommend the use of misoprostol at the community level.
Objective: Guide policy-makers in prioritizing safe motherhood interventions.
Methods: Three models (LOW, MED, HIGH) were constructed based on 34 sub-Saharan African countries to assess the relative cost-effectiveness of available safe motherhood interventions. Cost and effectiveness data were compiled and inserted into the WHO Mother Baby Package Costing Spreadsheet. For each model we assessed the percentage in maternal mortality reduction after implementing all interventions, and optimal combinations of interventions given restricted budgets of US$ 0.50, US$ 1.00, US$ 1.50 per...
Although maternal mortality is a significant global health issue, achievements in mortality decline to date have been inadequate. A review of the interventions targeted at maternal mortality reduction demonstrates that most developing countries face tremendous challenges in the implementation of these interventions, including the availability of unreliable data and the shortage in human and financial resources, as well as limited political commitment. Examples from developing countries, such as Sri Lanka, Malaysia and Honduras, demonstrate that maternal mortality will decline when...
Unsafe abortion continues to be an important factor affecting women’s reproductive lives and survival in the developing world, where 98% of all unsafe abortions occur. It has not declined in recent years, continuing at an annual rate of 16 per 1000 women of reproductive age in the developing world according to updated information for 2008. Laws that are highly restrictive help to explain the prevalence of unsafe abortion; however, even in some countries where the law permits abortion under broad indications, difficulties in accessing legal and safe services mean that high proportions of...
VSI, the Tigray Regional Health Bureau and the Bixby Center at UC Berkeley conducted a pilot program assessing the feasibility of providing comprehensive abortion care at all levels of the health care system in Tigray, Ethiopia, including by Health Extension Workers.
Information, education and communication (IEC) campaign sample from a postabortion care (PAC) operations research project in Rwanda using the local Kinyarwanda language.
A pocket reference for clinicians, this Misoprostol Regimens Pocket Guide from Rwanda details the dosage and route recommendations for the administraiton of misoprostol use in obstetrics and gynecology.
This brief summarizes the final results from a collaborative postabortion care (PAC) operations research led by the Zimbabwe Ministry of Health and Child Care and VSI. The results demonstrate that misoprostol, a safe and effective treatment option for incomplete abortion and miscarriage, brings PAC services closer to women in need at all levels of the health system.
The Angola Ministry of Health, in collaboration with VSI, conducted a demonstration project aimed at addressing maternal deaths due to complications from unsafe abortion. This research brief demonstrates that misoprostol is a safe, effective and feasible treatment method for incomplete abortion at all levels of the health system, including those facilities that do not have the capacity for manual vacuum aspiration or other surgical interventions.
