Research Proposal Example: Abortion Medicine Market in South Africa

Noticeably, over 500,000 women in the world die every year from pregnancy complications (Constant et al., 2016). Markedly, World Health Organization explains that more than half of these deaths occur in Africa. Towards this end, there is a need to find and to execute practical solutions that will help decline the prevalence of maternal mortality in Africa. According to Ganatra & Johnson (2016), the two leading cause of maternal death are postpartum hemorrhage and incomplete abortion. Ideally, these two causes are both preventable and treatable. This research proposal focuses on whether there is a viable and a sustainable market for this new drug in South Africa. An analysis of strategies for reducing maternal related deaths reveals that the medicine misoprostol and mifepristone can be used to treat and to prevent some pregnancy-related complications including postpartum hemorrhage.

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Background

Doctors used Mifepristone in combination with misoprostol (Cytotec) to terminate early pregnancy. Markedly, early pregnancy means that the age of the pregnancy is 70 days or less since the last cycle of the menstrual period. Mifepristone falls in a class of medications classified as anti-progestational steroids. Mifepristone functions by blocking the activity of hormone progesterone, which the body produces to help continue the pregnancy.

Research Objectives

I. To find out if there is viable and sustainable market for abortion medicine in South Africa.

II. To evaluate the policies influencing sale of abortion drugs in South Africa

III. To assess the market potentiality of abortion drugs in South Africa

IV. To determine the products that competes with these abortion medicines in South Africa

According to Grossman et al. (2011), the market size for mifepristone and misoprostol in recent three years that is from 2014 is 75 percent. Nevertheless, in South Africa, the doses for these two products every year in South Africa are 42 percent for mifepristone and 57 percent for misoprostol (Grossman et al., 2015).However, even if the dose is high, drug stores usually stock these two products, but pharmacists hesitate to dispense these two drugs to mystery clients for abortion induction. Noticeably, the rates of abortion are high in women of between age 20 and age 25 than in women of between age 25 and 44 (Grossman et al., 2011). Essentially, surgical abortion rates are at 35 percent while medical abortion rates stand at 45 percent. The ratios for these rates of abortion are 40 % and 60 % respectively. However, societal values regard abortion as an immoral act, which has no place in the society.

Noticeably, pharmacists and physicians prescribe mifepristone and misoprostol hesitantly to clients. However, when the life of the mother is in danger, medical and health authorities prescribe these products to save the life of the mother at the expense of the life and the unborn child. Markedly, there is no off-label use of these two drugs. The popularization of these products is that they prevent postpartum hemorrhage more than surgical procedures.

Ideally, abortion is not entirely permitted by the law. The law only allows abortion when a trained medical professional advises that abortion is necessary to save the life of the mother, which is in danger. Otherwise, the law forbids any other form of abortion. The research proposal will also reveal drug regulatory affairs requirements, Policy on import drugs, and import policy, including import duty, value added tax, benefits if possible, pricing method and make-up rate in medicine circulation. The research proposal will also reveal if abortion (surgical and medical) is covered by the medical assurance, the dose of these two products list in national essential medicine, and if there any open tenders, what about delicate times, quantity, bid winner, tender price. Moreover, the research proposal will also reveal the medicine registration fee, GMP audit fee. In addition, the study will also indicate if manufacturers of these two products need a local agency or not, and if there is any requirement about the Drug registration holder, must it be the local company.

Competition

The research proposal will also reveal the products that compete with mifepristone and misoprostol, similar products, a list of the sale agents and the competitive strategy that manufacturers of mifepristone and misoprostol implement in South Africa.

Marketing Strategy

Ideally, the research proposal will review the marketing strategy of Zizhus two products advantage and shortage. Besides, the research project will focus on at least three recommended cooperative partners of medicine import and marketing. Details of recommendation, such as if they are leading wholesaler in women health industry, compare with competitive products distributors. Moreover, the study will reveal the marketing promotion methods or suggestions, including doctors conference, exhibition, website advertisement, the law about medicine ad, expense budget that the manufacturers of these two products apply. Again, the research will study the trademark fee for these two abortion drugs.

Methodology

The study will take the form of a survey of selected clinics, hospitals and medical centers that operate in South Africa. The sampling method will involve dividing the population of the medical facilities into uniform layers through stratification. The type of data for use in this study will be secondary data as information of mifepristone and misoprostol is available on secondary sources including WHO website. Methods for data analysis will be descriptive statistics, and data will be presented in charts and tables.

Conclusion

In conclusion, an analysis of strategies for reducing maternal related deaths reveals that the medicine misoprostol and mifepristone can be used to treat and to prevent some pregnancy-related complications including postpartum hemorrhage. The two leading cause of maternal mortality is postpartum hemorrhage and incomplete abortion. This research focuses on market viability, policies, market potentiality, and competition about mifepristone and misoprostol drugs in South Africa.

References

Constant, D., Harries, J., Malaba, T., Myer, L., Patel, M., Petro, G., & Grossman, D. (2016). Clinical Outcomes and Womens Experiences before and after the Introduction of Mifepristone into Second-Trimester Medical Abortion Services in South Africa. PLOS ONE, 11(9), e0161843.

Ganatra, B., & Johnson, B. (2016). Evidence-based practices can improve safety and timeliness of care for women needing safe termination of pregnancy. BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics & Gynaecology, 123(10), 1692-1692. doi:10.1111/1471-0528.14118

Grossman, D., Constant, D., Lince, N., Alblas, M., Blanchard, K., & Harries, J. (2011). Surgical and medical second-trimester abortion in South Africa: A cross-sectional study. BMC Health Services Research, 11(1). doi:10.1186/1472-6963-11-224

Grossman, D., Constant, D., Patel, M., & Harries, J. (2015). The introduction of the mifepristone regimen for second-trimester medical abortion in South Africa. Contraception, 91(5), 426-427. doi:10.1016/j.contraception.2015.02.017

Appendices

Time Schedule

Research Proposal Writing 1 week

Data Collection 2 weeks

Data Analysis 2 weeks

Report Writing 3 weeks

Total 8 weeks

Financial Plan (Budget)

Activity Amount Unit Total

Data Collection $ 100 1 $ 100

Data Analysis $ 150 1 $ 150

Total $ 250