Madagascar launches its first misoprostol study to reduce maternal
deaths from postpartum hemorrhage and incomplete abortion
On June
12, 2009, the Ministry of Health and Family Planning of Madagascar and Marie
Stopes Madagascar, with support from Venture Strategies for Health and
Development, launched “Saving Malagasy Women’s Lives with Misoprostol,” a pilot study introducing misoprostol to
reduce maternal deaths in the island nation.
Melodie Holden appointed President of Venture Strategies Innovations
On Tuesday, June 16, 2009, the board of directors of nonprofit
organization Venture Strategies Innovations (VSI) voted Melodie Holden as the
new President of VSI.
Misoprostol for safe delivery featured in special Mother's Day section in
New York Times
On Sunday, May 10, 2009, the New York Times featured an editorial about the role of misoprostol in safe delivery in a special section devoted to the
question: "What Do You Give the Developing World for
Mother's Day? The piece, written by Venture Strategies' Communications Manager Amy Grossman, highlights misoprostol as an inexpensive tablet effective at preventing maternal deaths from postpartum hemorrhage in developing
countries.
New report cites increase in global availability and sales of
misoprostol
New report on global availability and sales of misoprostol highlights
increased access to and sales of misoprostol in Venture Strategies'
program regions.
Strong community focus key to success in ongoing misoprostol project in Northern
Nigeria
In 2009, Venture Strategies and the Bixby Center at UC Berkeley began implementation of a
community-based project in
Kaduna state in conjunction with Ahmadu
Bello University in Zaria. The project engages traditional midwives and birth
attendants to administer misoprostol for prevention of postpartum hemorrhage and will provide empirical evidence to inform policy makers on
community availability of misoprostol for home births.
Venture Strategies attends African First Ladies' Health
Summit
The wives of presidents and prime ministers of 15
African countries convened for the first ever African First
Ladies’ Health Summit
on Monday, April 20 and Tuesday, April 21, 2009 in Los Angeles, California
to present their efforts to improve health in their countries and build
collaborative partnerships with organizations with similar
goals.
Venture Strategies participated in this noteworthy and
exciting event focusing on the First Ladies’ work in the realms of HIV/AIDS, reproductive,
maternal and child health, and girls’ education.
Venture Strategies' misoprostol work featured at regional conference of African obstetricians and
gynecologists
Venture Strategies for Health and Development sponsored a plenary session at the
8th International Scientific Conference of the East, Central and Southern African Association of Obstetrical and Gynaecological Societies in Mombasa, Kenya on February
19, 2009.
Hosted by the Kenya Obstetrical and Gynaecological Society, more than
350 members of professional associations from nine African countries, Canada and Chile attended this
year’s conference.
Venture Strategies launches misoprostol rollout in
Zambia
On January 15, 2009, the Times of Zambia reported on the successful launch of misoprostol for postpartum hemorrhage in five
districts--a project jointly supported by the Ministry of Health, Venture Strategies
(VS) and Society for Family Health/PSI Zambia.
In May of 2008, VS facilitated the regulatory approval of misoprostol for postpartum hemorrhage, making Zambia the third African country to register this drug for this important women's health
indication.
Venture Strategies' contributions to safe motherhood highlighted in BJOG
journal
In an article published in the journal BJOG that reviews progress made
on new and underutilized technologies to reduce maternal mortality and
morbidity identified five years ago at the Bellagio Conference, authors
Vivian Tsu and Patricia Coffey feature Venture Strategies' successful
efforts to register misoprostol for postpartum hemorrhage in
Bangladesh, Nepal, Nigeria, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia.
Emphasizing
the role misoprostol has to play in preventing maternal deaths from
postpartum hemorrhage in low-resource settings, Tsu and Coffey also
highlight Venture Strategies' commitment to making the drug available at a
price affordable to the poor.
Cascade of recent misoprostol registrations is positive news for millions of the world's
women: Have we reached the tipping point?
Summary article on the status of misoprostol registration globally as of October
2008.
To date ten countries have registered misoprostol for postpartum
hemorrhage.