Efforts to save lives of newborns now yielding positive results with the manufacturing of a life-saving gel in Nigeria. The gel is also being included in Mama kits for pregnant women when they are about to be delivered of their babies. You must read about this achievement!
I would usually think that most people know about umbilical cord - the tube that transports nutrition from mother to the baby in the womb. But I wouldn’t think that most people know the number of preventable newborn deaths that occur from cutting the umbilical cord.When the baby is born, the cord is cut and the baby must start fending for itself. Such is life. It will take a while for the stump left after the cut to fall off. Cutting the umbilical cord is not the cause of newborn death but, however, in addition to all other infections that newborns are prone to, the stump may pick up an infection.Globally, 36% of newborn deaths are due to infections, and cord-related infection is said to be responsible for 1 out of 3 of the deaths.Antiseptics are usually used to clean the stump to prevent infection. When my son was born, the only thing I knew was used was an alcohol-based solution to take care of the stump. I recently learned that certain antiseptic, gentia violet, which is also used in cord care, is capable of concealing fatal infections. The risk of infection would have been higher for my son if he were born at home, in a rural setting and without the help of a skilled birth attendant. This is so because most maternal or newborn deaths happen in the rural setting.But now, a baby born in a rural setting has the same opportunity to be prevented from picking a cord infection as the one born in an urban setting, with the help of a life-saving gel called Chlorhexidine.Chlorhexidine is not new, but the fact that it is safer, more effective than antiseptics, and now being produced in Nigeria, give more than a glimmer of hope that many newborns will no longer die of preventable cord infection. I wouldn’t know if it was used for my son in the hospital, but as I said, we were using antiseptic at home.So if there’s a drug that is more effective and can help to prevent losing newborns to cord infection, why have we not been using it?That’s because of lack of availability of, and access to the drug. And where there is availability, think about the cost.But it has always been argued that most maternal and newborn deaths are preventable. And this has been proven when the Targeted State High Impact Program (TSHIP), with support from the Ministry of Health, the governments of the States (Sokoto and Bauchi) where TSHIP is focused and other stakeholders, championed the local production of Chlorhexidine.Chlorxyl-G is proudly Nigerian, approved by NAFDAC. This one is Drugfield Pharmaceutical’s brand. 7 million of 3 grams tube will be produced per annum, and this is just at 50% capacity. Two other drug manufacturers have been given approval. This means that we cannot expect or experience non-availability.Chlorhexidine is not a designer drug. So, in terms of cost, it is less than 100 naira. But for those who would still not be able to afford it, the government in Sokoto and Bauchi States have taken ownership of the initiative. They have bought and have been distributing the drug free in the two States, and I learned that more than 56,000 newborns have benefitted from it.The government wants Chlorhexidine used at home and facility deliveries, thereby listing it as over the counter (OTC) in the Essential Medicine List. It will also be included in the different delivery kits or Mama kits as they are popularly called.TSHIP has even gone to the level of working with community-based health volunteers in the administration of Chlorhexidine. This strategy is crucial in environments where most pregnant women give birth at home, some times with no one present. You can read the comprehensive account of that here.Now, other States, 16 of them, want to jump unto this boat that is sailing to save the lives of newborns and make pregnancy and childbirth an experience we no longer have to worry about.Everyone is standing up to save lives of mothers and babies. You too, as an individual or an organisation, can act now.To know more about Chlorhexidine, click here.Many thanks to Dr Olayinka A. Umar-Farouk, Chlorhexidine Coordinator and Dr Francis Ohanyido/USAID/TSHIP Nigeria who provided the information used in this blog.