China has donated life-saving Misoprostol tablets and postpartum kits to the Bangladesh government through the Partners in Population and Development (PPD).
The tablet Misoprostol is being used to prevent heavy bleeding after delivery which is one of the biggest killers of women while giving birth in Bangladesh. Postpartum kits are also needed after delivery to take care of the mother and the baby.
Headquartered in Dhaka, the PPD is a south-south collaboration forum of 26 developing countries.
China through a virtually held ceremony on Monday handed over 61,700 boxes of misoprostol tablets which can be distributed among 61, 700 pregnant women and 20,000 postpartum kits for 20,000 mothers for a PPD run project in six upazilas under Manikganj and Gazipur districts.
Each postpartum kit contains eight items such as metered pantaloon-type sanitary napkins, baby diapers, spillage pad, baby wipes, special toilet paper, the baby umbilical care paste, non-woven package, and metrological sanitary.
The PPD runs the project titled on “Providing Safe, Comprehensive and Appropriate Intervention to Prevent Postpartum Hemorrhage for Reduction of Maternal Mortality in Bangladesh” with the Directorate General of Family Planning (DGFP) of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
It is funded by the South-South Cooperation Assistance Fund (SSCAF) of the government of China.
PPD said Health Minister Zahid Maleque is the honorable Permanent Executive Committee Member of the PPD Board. He asked PPD to have a South-South Cooperation project to reduce the maternal mortality in Bangladesh as well as other member countries.
Based on his advice, PPD had made efforts to develop a proposal and submit to the government of China to grant the project. The government of China selected the project for Bangladesh only.
As part of this project implementation, the Chinese government provided the commodities support to the Bangladesh government.
Tab Misoprostol and Postpartum Kits were handed over to the Director General of Family Planning. Director General Shahan Ara Banu attended as Chief Guest and Additional Secretary of the health ministry Nitish Chandra Sarkar as Special Guest.
Liu Zhenhua, Economic and Commerce Counsellor of the China embassy in Dhaka, represented his government. From China National Commission Ru Lixia joined the handover ceremony as representative of the main provider of the project.
PPD Executive Director Adnene Ben Haj Aissa also spoke at the event. PPD Programme Director Dr. Nazrul Islam handed over the donation to Director MCH of the family planning service Dr. Mohammed Sharif.
The director general, Shana Ara Banu, made it clear that DGFP will take serious initiative to implement the project successfully. She has also asked the team to take necessary initiative for uses of the medicines and kits.
She said the government is encouraging women to give birth at facilities instead of home at the hand of unskilled providers.
According to the latest Bangladesh Maternal Mortality Survey, 196 women die per 100,000 while giving birth. Hemorrhage or postpartum bleeding and eclampsia account for 55 percent of those deaths.
Postpartum hemorrhage (also called PPH) is when a woman has heavy bleeding after giving birth.
But this bleeding is difficult to predict. Reducing such death from hemorrhage requires sophisticated skill and facilities. ut still many women give birth at the hands of unskilled providers. Misoprostol tablets can prevent such bleeding.
