Document Type
Brief
Publication Date
2016
Abstract
The World Health Organization recommends magnesium sulphate (MgSO4) as the most effective, safe, and low-cost drug for treating pre-eclampsia and eclampsia. To increase access to and use of MgSO4 in Kano State, Nigeria the Population Council trained lower-cadre healthcare providers in antenatal clinics to detect pre-eclampsia early and institute timely and appropriate management by administering the loading dose of MgSO4 and referring for follow-up care. This brief reports that the intervention, which was supported by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, reduced the maternal mortality rate due to PE/E by 40 percent in project sites. Moving forward, the Council will modify the intervention by also training providers at primary healthcare facilities to manage hypertension by using antihypertensive drugs and will include a community component to increase awareness of signs and symptoms and information that details where and when to seek treatment.
Recommended Citation
"Increasing access to magnesium sulphate in Nigeria," Ending Eclampsia Policy Brief. Washington, DC: Population Council, 2016.
DOI
10.31899/rh8.1038
Language
English
Project
Ending Eclampsia
Included in
Demography, Population, and Ecology Commons, Family, Life Course, and Society Commons, International Public Health Commons, Maternal and Child Health Commons