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Home » Press Center » VSI Newsroom » Uganda PPH Stakeholders' Meeting
September 29, 2010

Ministry of Health, VSI convene stakeholders’ meeting to plan way forward for misoprostol in Uganda

(KAMPALA, UGANDA) - On Tuesday, September 28, 2010, 45 policymakers, medical practitioners and program planners convened at Hotel Africana in Kampala, Uganda to discuss the way forward for misoprostol, a drug with potential to save many lives in this country where thousands of mothers die each year due to excessive bleeding after childbirth, or postpartum hemorrhage (PPH).

In order to address the need for expanded protection from this preventable bleeding, the Ministry of Health (MOH), with support from VSI, introduced misoprostol tablets for PPH prevention at health centres III, IV and district hospitals in eleven districts from July 2009 to April 2010. Level III health centers are staffed by nurses and serve 20,000 population; level IV health centers are referral facilities staffed by at least one doctor and serve 100,000 population.

At the stakeholders’ meeting, VSI National Program Coordinator Dr. Aine Byabashaija presented the results of an assessment conducted in one representative district, Bugiri, on the introduction of misoprostol for prevention of PPH at health facilities. VSI  Medical and Programs Director Dr. Ndola Prata offered guidance on scaling up access to misoprostol as a complementary strategy for reducing maternal mortality.

In addition to the presentation of the Bugiri District program assessment and planning for nationwide scale-up, the meeting served as an opportunity for meeting participants to discuss educational messages on misoprostol for PPH and make recommendations for their improvement as the program reaches more communities throughout Uganda. PACE, the Association of Obstetricians and Gynecologists of Uganda and the World Health Organization also participated in the program.

With a breadth of representation from the Ministry of Health, Dr. Anthony Mbonye, Commissioner, Community Health, Jennifer Wanyana, Assistant Commissioner, Reproductive Health, and Lillian Luwagga, Senior Health Educator and Promoter, the meeting highlighted the MOH’s commitment to moving this program beyond the pilot phase so that more women have access to protection against PPH in Uganda.

Uganda has previously taken the important policy steps of regulatory approval of misoprostol for use in prevention and treatment of PPH in 2008, and its subsequent inclusion in the national clinical guidelines for this use in 2009.

 

To learn more about VSI's work in Uganda, and to view the launch video, click here.