Giunti Labs’ e-learning helps women survive eclampsia, one of the leading causes of maternal death
Giunti Labs is adding its expertise to that of specialists at the University of Oxford to help to reduce problems associated with pre-eclampsia in pregnant women in the developing world.
Giunti Labs, a leading learning and mobile content management solution provider, is helping the Nuffield Department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology and the Oxford Maternal & Perinatal Health Institute (Green Templeton College) at the University of Oxford to develop educational material on maternal health for midwives, nurses and doctors in developing countries – notably in India, Mexico and Nigeria. The material focuses on pre-eclampsia – a pregnancy condition that is characterised by high blood pressure and protein in the urine.
If untreated, complications can develop such as seizures (eclampsia), strokes, kidney and liver damage and, ultimately, death. In fact, eclampsia and severe pre-eclampsia claim the lives of some 63,000 women each year around the world - as well as the lives of many of their babies.
Dr Stephen Kennedy, head of the Nuffield Department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology, explained that: “Pre-eclampsia usually develops some time after the 20th week of pregnancy and serious complications may affect the mother, the baby, or both. The more severe the condition becomes, the greater the risk that complications will develop.”
Since pre-eclampsia is thought to be due to a problem with the placenta, delivering the baby early is the usual treatment and medication is given to help prevent complications.
Dr Kennedy’s long-term vision is for the Oxford Maternal & Perinatal Health Institute to offer a course in all aspects of maternal health to health care professionals globally. His efforts to pursue this have led to a grant from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation via EngenderHealth, a New York-based charity, to develop e-learning materials relating to one important aspect of maternal health, namely pre-eclampsia and its effective treatment.
With the help of a small team of clinicians, led by Dr José Villar at the University of Oxford, Giunti Labs has developed a pilot that aims to deliver a self-paced e-learning module, consisting of five components of 30 minutes each. There is a basic version for healthcare professionals wishing to understand the fundamentals, as well as a more advanced version for those wishing to improve their knowledge of the management of pre-eclampsia and eclampsia, providing the evidence behind the recommendations.
The target audience for this module is midwives, nurses and doctors, working in local hospitals in India, Mexico and Nigeria. Giunti Labs has therefore developed versions in both English and Spanish.
“Obviously, the success of this pilot will determine whether or not we are able to secure further funding to develop a whole programme in maternal health,” said Dr Catriona Murray, who has worked on the project for the last two years.
“Between 300,000 and 500,000 women die each year from problems related to pregnancy,” she added. “Ninety-nine per cent of these deaths occur in developing countries and many of them are preventable.”
“Giunti Labs is proud to be able to contribute to enhancing education provision in developing countries in this way,” commented JJ van Delsen, Sales Director of Giunti Labs UK. “This project also strengthens our leadership position in the health care sector – where the Giunti Labs’ toolset has been used to develop over 1,000 hours of high quality content within the UK healthcare sector alone.”
The World Health Organisation (WHO) recommends injectable magnesium sulphate - also known as Epsom salts - as the safest, most effective and lowest-cost medication for treating pre-eclampsia and eclampsia. Magnesium sulphate is the standard treatment for eclampsia and severe pre-eclampsia in the developed world - and has been for 20 years. Less-effective and riskier medications, such as diazepam and phenytoin, however, are still widely used in developing countries - if any treatment is available at all.
In 2007, EngenderHealth and the University of Oxford brought together leading scientists, advocates, researchers, and representatives of the WHO, UNICEF, United Nations agencies and national ministries of health from around the world to identify barriers to the availability and use of magnesium sulphate to treat pre-eclampsia and eclampsia. This gathering of global public health experts identified the primary barriers to the use of magnesium sulphate: lack of national guidelines, a shortage of educated and trained healthcare professionals and scarce supplies of magnesium sulphate.
Consequently, EngenderHealth and the University of Oxford developed a ‘Call to Action’ and a report – ‘Balancing the Scales: Expanding Treatment for Pregnant Women with Life-Threatening Hypertensive Conditions in Developing Countries’ - that called on policymakers and ministers of health to make pre-eclampsia and eclampsia a higher priority and to set national guidelines for treatment and care, based on WHO guidelines. Decision makers along with international and national health organisations and agencies were also urged to help make magnesium sulphate more available and affordable.
See www.engenderhealth.org/files/pubs/maternal-health/EngenderHealth-Eclampsia-Report.pdf
This has resulted in EngenderHealth, along with the University of Oxford and the John D. & Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation making a joint commitment as part of the Clinton Global Initiative to expand access to magnesium sulphate by:
• Training health professionals through web-based interactive e-learning to know when and how to administer magnesium sulphate
• Advocating for magnesium sulphate to be part of every developing country’s list of essential drugs
• Helping develop and/or reinforce national protocols mandating magnesium sulphate as the preferred treatment for pre-eclampsia and eclampsia
• Ensuring the availability of magnesium sulphate in hospitals in developing countries
It was the first of these commitments that gave rise to the Giunti Labs-developed e-learning materials.
End