Summary

Venture Strategies Innovations (VSI) is a nonprofit organization committed to improving women’s health in developing countries. In our country programs we work collaboratively with a host of local partners to implement programs that advance women's health, and strengthen communities.

Program goals

Over 340,000 women lose their lives in pregnancy and childbirth every year, virtually all of whom are in the developing world. VSI focuses on bringing practical and sustainable health solutions to women, adolescent girls and health care providers where they live – in their homes and communities – to save lives. This is a critical and complementary strategy to accelerate progress toward the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goal 5 of reducing maternal mortality by 75% by 2015, and to achieve equitable access to life-saving medicines and services.

Key program components

VSI's safe motherhood programs address three of the leading causes of maternal mortality globally - postpartum hemorrhage (PPH), pre-eclampsia/eclampsia and unsafe abortion - by connecting women and girls with life-saving medicines and services. VSI engages ministries of health, professional medical associations and in-country experts to achieve regulatory approval of quality products - such as misoprostal and magnesium sulfate - and to integrate these products into national policies and the health system.

To date VSI has successfully facilitated the inclusion of misoprostol in national guidelines or essential medicines lists in Ghana, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Zanzibar, Nigeria, Uganda, Zambia, Kenya, Mozambique, Liberia, Rwanda and Zimbabwe.