A ban on importation of oxytocin

By Patrick Jaramogi

Government has banned the importation of oxytocin, a drug used by medical personnel to stop excessive bleeding of mothers after childbirth.

Excessive bleeding (postpartum haemorrhage) is the leading cause of maternal death in Uganda. Oxytocin is one of the drugs used to manage the condition to save mothers.

The ban follows reports that the drug in the market is not fit for human use following discoveries that the stock in the country was stored under wrong temperatures.

Oxytocin can also be used for inducing labour and treating incomplete abortion or miscarriages. Pitocin, one of the brand names under which oxytocin is sold, is used to stimulate the contraction of the mother’s uterus after delivery of a baby.

Oxytocin works by increasing the concentration of calcium inside muscle cells that control contraction of the uterus. Increased calcium increases contraction of the uterus.

Announcing the ban at the National Drug Authority headquarters this week, executive secretary, Gordon Sematiko, said though the World Health Organisation (WHO) standards require that oxytocin be stored at room temperature (between 15 degrees centigrade to 21 degrees centigrade, most dealers and suppliers were not doing so.

“We started receiving reports of effects on women after delivery, but when we investigated from the manufacturing points, we discovered no anomalies in the production line.

“When we returned, we found that most storage facilities in the country were wanting,” he said.

Sematiko declined to name particular storage facilities, saying: “All those that import oxytocin were not meeting these standards.”

Sematiko, who was handing over 19 motor bikes to district assistant drug inspectors from 19 districts, noted that most pharmacies redistribute expired drugs to rural areas where people are not keen on checking the expiry dates.

 “We have banned and stopped the importation of oxytocin. We have given time to those with some stocks to dispose them off as we streamline measures to ensure all new imports abide by the set storage standards,” he said.

He said all new importations will only be granted after storage facilities that meet the required standards are inspected by NDA and approved.

Asked whether the remaining oxytocin was not harmful to the users, Sematiko said: “If stored above 21 degrees centigrade, it goes bad after six months and can cause harm. But for the remaining stocks, we advise for a double dosage if it is to be effective.”

The Minister of Health, Dr. Ruhakana Rugunda, in a speech read by his permanent secretary, Dr. Asuman Lukwago, urged the district drug inspectors to be on the lookout for drug shops selling expired drugs.