Ferring Pharmaceuticals and the Federation of Obstetric & Gynaecological Societies of India (FOGSI) recently launched a new call to action, ‘For Every Mother in India’, at the Embassy of Switzerland in India.

‘For Every Mother in India’ aims to mobilise a wide set of stakeholders across India, including policy makers, government agencies, development partners, academia, medical experts and civil society, in a collective push to end preventable maternal deaths.

It forms part of Ferring’s #ProjectFamily: Safe Birth commitment to protect the lives of 20 million women and their families globally by 2030 through sustainable access to room temperature stable (RTS) carbetocin, a treatment used to prevent excessive bleeding after childbirth, or postpartum haemorrhage (PPH), a leading cause of maternal deaths. 

In July 2021, women in India were the first in the world to receive Ferring’s room temperature stable (RTS) carbetocin formulation to prevent excessive bleeding after childbirth (PPH). Ferring and key partners are working to secure additional registrations, and to bring Carbetocin RTS to the public health sector of all low- and lower-middle income countries, where the burden of maternal mortality and cases of PPH are greatest.

According to the Registrar General of India report, the Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR) of India has declined by 10 points, from 113 in 2016-18 to 103 in 2017-19. The country has been witnessing a progressive reduction in the MMR from 130 in 2014-2016, 122 in 2015-17, 113 in 2016-18, and to 103 in 2017-19. However, MMR in 448 of India's 640 districts is higher than the SDG 3.1: ‘By 2030, reduce the maternal mortality ratio to less than 70 per 100,000 live births’, as per World Health Organisation (WHO) Guidelines.