August 10, 2011
Leading physicians move to expand delivery of PAC services with misoprostol
(MOMBASA, KENYA) - On July 27, 2011, VSI hosted a meeting with co-sponsorship from Ipas in Mombasa, Kenya to disseminate the collaborative Misoprostol Use in Postabortion Care (MPAC) Service Delivery Toolkit to leading obstetricians and gynecologists in the Eastern, Central and South African (ECSA) regions. Convened just a day before the 4th ECSA International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) workshop on the Prevention of Unsafe Abortion Initiative, over 70 physicians, program planners and policymakers from nine countries participated in the day-long session focused on this medication-based treatment of a leading cause of maternal death.
The MPAC Toolkit is a comprehensive compilation of knowledge, experiences and recommendations with regard to misoprostol use for treatment of incomplete abortion and miscarriage, a medication method that can be used in places where surgical options are not available or feasible. It offers resources for clinicians, facility managers and program managers to implement the use of misoprostol tablets for postabortion care (PAC) at a range of health facilities, and can be adapted to meet local or national circumstances. To date, seventeen women’s health organizations have endorsed the Toolkit, including FIGO following the July workshop.
Given the high burden of maternal mortality related to abortion in the African region, the MPAC Toolkit was met with enthusiasm from meeting participants and a commitment to tailor it to specific country settings in order to facilitate its integration into maternal health programs. It is currently being used to scale up PAC in countries such as Rwanda.
During the workshop, VSI Associate Medical Director Dr. Nuriye Nalan Sahin Hodoglugil said, “Use of misoprostol for the treatment of incomplete abortion is an essential element for scaling up postabortion care in the settings where it is most needed.”
Throughout the subsequent days of the FIGO workshop, attendees shared the information about the MPAC Toolkit with their other colleagues participating in the broader workshop, elevating it to a priority strategy that governments and NGO partners can employ in the near term to meet the quickly approaching Millennium Development Goal deadline of reducing maternal mortality by 75% by 2015.
Download the Toolkit.
