Shortages of a Lifesaving Medication Threatened Mothers in Nepal. Direct Relief Is Sending 34,000 Doses.
Format
When the Covid-19 pandemic made misoprostol scarce, Nepali women were placed at risk.
In the midst of 2020's Covid-19 response, a member of Direct Relief's emergency response team received an unusual request.
Like the rest of his team, Dan Hovey, an emergency response manager at the nonprofit organization, was fielding requests for ventilators, PPE, and other Covid-19-related medical aid from all over the world. But One Heart Worldwide, a maternal health aid group and long-term Direct Relief partner, was asking for something else entirely: misoprostol, a lifesaving drug that's used to stop postpartum hemorrhage, and that plays an essential role in preventing maternal deaths.