| ABSUTH doctors discover
drugs for anaemic pregnancy
By JOE EFFIONG, Aba .
Saturday, November 6, 2004
Eldervit-12 injection, a drug said to have been initially
developed for elderly people against hepatitis and low blood
pressure patients may surprisingly, turn out to be the saving
grace for anaemic pregnant women in the country.
This is courtesy of the research carried out by a team of
doctors headed by Dr. Mazi Ejikem of Abia State Teaching Hospital,
(ABSUTH) Aba in collaboration with Elber Pharma Ltd, the sole
distributors of the drug in Nigeria.
The findings of the research which was made public last Thursday
at ABSUTH by a member of the research team, Dr. Ifeanyi Nwagboso,
revealed that the drug when combined with oral iron supplement
was "able to increase the haemoglobin of pregnant women
to the World Health Organization (WHO) standard of 11.0g/ld."
The co-ordinator of the research, Dr. Ejikem told Saturday
Sun that Eldervit-12 injection though developed for hepatitis
and low blood pressure patients as well as those with gastric
ulcer and elderly patients with nerve problem or arthritis,
has been discovered to be even more helpful to pregnant women.
"Apart from building blood in these women, this drug
has been found to reduce excessive vomiting in pregnancy,
reduce abnormalities especially, neural tube defect. The discovery
is the first of its kind in Nigeria.
"The outcome of the study is a turning point in the life
of pregnant women because all studies and reports on anaemia
in pregnancy have programmed preventive measures on oral approach
yet over 60 percent of pregnant women still go into labour
anaemic with haemoglobin less than 11.0g/ld which the WHO
standard.
The research however showed that over 90 per cent of the women
receiving Eldervit-12 injection in pregnancy had haemoglobin
of 11.0g/ld or more."
Ejikem therefore attributed the success of the research to
the "research environment created by the chief medical
director, Mr. Dennis Orji, who is a revisitor, revitalizer
and a promoter", adding that the five-month research
was initiated by Elber Pharma Ltd. when it accepted ABSUTH’s
proposal.
The representatives of Elber Pharma Ltd, Mr. Mike Edidi stated
that Eldervit-12 injection is NAFDAC-approved and has been
in existence for several years, and that the company was also
involved in the production and distribution of genuine drugs
such as Amalar, Daravite Zynol and Cenox.
The presentation of research finding was witnessed by Abia
State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Kalu Ndukwe and the guest
speaker, Prof. A, O. Onigbodum who is the chairman, West African
College of Surgeons among others.
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