WHO reveals new drug to save bleeding mothers during child birth, as 70,000 die yearly

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has said that a new drug – Carbetocin – has the potential to save thousands of women’s lives in childbirth annually.

WHO said Carbetocin now serves as a new competition – with improved benefits – to Oxytocin, a stand-by drug used to prevent potentially-fatal bleeding after childbirth.

According to WHO about 70,000 mothers are killed yearly due to excess bleeding after child birth. Oxytocin is the first-choice medication, but it must be kept cold, unlike the new drug, Carbetocin.

The study which was published on Wednesday suggested that the new drug could be stored at normal temperature, and could save the lives of thousands in low- and lower-middle-income countries.

“This is a truly encouraging new development that can revolutionise our ability to keep mothers and babies alive,” said WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

The global health agency said even if women could obtain Oxytocin, heat exposure might render the drug less effective since Oxytocin must be stored and transported at a cool two to eight degrees Celsius – a difficult task in many countries and numerous women lack access to the medicine.

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The study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, has shown the heat-stable Carbetocin is not only as safe and effective as Oxytocin, but even without refrigeration – when stored at below 30 degrees Celsius and 75 per cent relative humidity – it retains its efficacy for at least three years.

WHO noted that approximately 70,000 women die annually from postpartum hemorrhage – increasing the risk that their babies will also die within a month.

In the largest clinical trial of its kind, close to 30,000 women who gave birth vaginally were studied in Nigeria, Argentina, Egypt, India, Kenya, Singapore, South Africa, Thailand, Uganda and the United Kingdom.

Immediately after child birth, each woman was randomly injected with a single dose of either heat-stable Carbetocin or Oxytocin – revealing that both were equally effective at preventing excessive bleeding.

Metin Gülmezoglu of WHO’s Department of Reproductive Health and Research, described the report of Carbetocin as “very good news” for millions of women.

While Carbetocin has not yet been cleared for use beyond clinical trials, the next steps begin with a regulatory review, countries’ approval and then consideration by WHO’s Guideline Development Group.

However, WHO said on Wednesday, that following the positive trial results, it would be working to advance affordable access to the potentially lifesaving drug in countries with a high maternal death rate.

 

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