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Saving Mothers' Lives in Rural Tanzania
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Summary
A low-cost, off-patent drug stops postpartum hemorrhage. Thousands of women's lives can be saved by making it available to traditional midwives through local businesses in developing countries.
 read updates from the field
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Received $10,623 from 69 donations from people like:
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More Information About this Project
Project Needs and Beneficiaries
Each year, twice as many women die in childbirth as people who died in the 2004 tsunami. 99% of these deaths are in developing countries and hemorrhage is the most common cause worldwide. Bleeding can be controlled in a clinic, but we have shown that traditional midwives can use inexpensive misoprostol tablets to save lives in a woman’s home. This is where most births take place and most maternal deaths occur in the developing world--well beyond reach of hospitals and government health services.
Activities
We help create a sustainable market for misoprostol by working with local businesses who resell it at a small profit. We work with manufacturers, assist with the regulatory process, co-sponsor policy meetings and develop educational materials.
Funding Information
Total Funding Received to Date: $10,623
Remaining Goal to be Funded: $14,377
Total Funding Goal: $25,000
Additional Documentation
This project has provided additional documentation in a PDF file (projdoc.pdf).
Resources
Why this Project is Important
Potential Long Term Impact
The project is uniquely scalable. Tanzania has been unable to lower maternal death rates to meet the U.N.'s 2015 goal of 75% reduction. With this drug, traditional midwives get their first effective technology and see a major reduction in mortality.
Project Message
When we started training for the Kigoma project, word spread. Pregnant women who knew their lives were in danger traveled 70km when they heard that we had a drug to stop bleeding after childbirth.
- Dr. Ndola Prata, advisor, Tanzania study with traditional midwives
When this Project was Updated
Last Updated
This project was last updated on June 10, 2008.
Date Added to GlobalGiving
This project was added to the GlobalGiving project catalog on September 02, 2005.
Latest Update from the Field
Reaching pregnant women with misoprostol
By Amy Grossman - Communications Manager, June 10, 2008 06:46 PM
In Tanzania there is near universal attendance for at least one antenatal care visit (96%), yet the majority of births still take place at home. Antenatal care visits may prove to be a key contact point to reach vulnerable women with safe birthing messages and misoprostol for prevention. With partners at the local Ifakara Research and Development Center, VSHD has designed and is funding a critical project to evaluate the feasibility and acceptability of distribution of misoprostol tablets directly to women at antenatal care visits for the prevention of PPH. This innovative model is expected to reach a large number of women with the life-saving tablets. The results of this study will generate evidenced-based recommendations to inform policy decisions on community access to the tablets and scale-up efforts in Tanzania and beyond.
Read 4 more "Updates from the Field" |
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