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"The results of the study could not be better, we have the opportunity to save tens of thousands of lives in the countries the poorest, "said Metin Gulmezoglu, WHO's coordinator of maternal health, during a teleconference.
The new drug, called "carbetocin – a stable temperature," is designed to withstand temperatures of up to 30 degrees Celsius and 75% relative humidity without altering for three years, a key aspect which can be used in depressed areas and without access to a refrigerator.
Otolarycin has traditionally been used to combat postpartum hemorrhage, but this drug must be maintained at a stable temperature between 2 and 8 degrees Celsius, both when it is transported and when it is stored, which is eminently impossible in many developing countries.
"At high temperature, oxytocin is degraded, it's not that it has harmful effects, but it's just not effective, we've seen places where the dose needed is inoculated three times to make up for the lack of efficiency ".
Each year, about 70,000 women die worldwide due to postpartum hemorrhage, and after the mother's death, the risk that their newborns die increases dramatically.
Based on the results of the study, the WHO estimates that "in September, it will be able to recommend the use of" carbetocin – at a stable temperature "as a method to prevent postpartum hemorrhage. But for now the carbetocin-stable temperature is only allowed to be used in clinical trials, so the next step after successful results is to allow and regulate their daily use.
The two molecules (oxytocin and carbetocin) are very similar, so they have very similar effects, only that the new drug is not sensitive to changes in temperature. "The idea is to recommend it as a preventive method, not as a treatment, as it has been shown that if the product is inoculated to the mother in the first minutes after childbirth, it is reduced to 40 to 50% the chances of bleeding, "explained Gulmezoglu.
Currently, the WHO recommends inoculating all women with oxytocin after delivery, which will not change with the inclusion of the new cure .
In addition, the expert recalled that oxytocin has other important uses during childbirth, such as induction.
The Survey
The study was based on a clinical trial with about 30,000 women, the largest of its kind, and in which women participated in 23 sites in ten countries: Argentina, Egypt, India, Kenya, Nigeria, United Kingdom, Singapore, South Africa, Thailand and Uganda.
The study was conducted in collaboration with MSD for Mothers, an initiative dedicated to finding solutions to reduce maternal mortality, and the pharmaceutical company Ferring. Once the drug is regulated, the three entities will study how to implement it mbadively in countries with high maternal mortality rates, given that the agreement they signed before realizing the drug will be implemented. The study included affordable distribution in 90 low-income countries. .
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