Dr Nsiah Asare
The Ghana Health Service (GHS) has held a dissemination workshop on the introduction of Time Temperature Indicators (TTI) on oxytocin, a World Health Organisation (WHO) approved first-line drug for prevention and treatment of post-partum haemorrhage, one of the leading causes of maternal mortality in Ghana.
The one-day workshop afforded officials from health institutions the opportunity to better understand the benefits of TTI and to deliberate on the research finding on the use of TTI in selected health facilities.
It was also to create a strong evidence-based support for the expanded safe use of the life-saving drug – oxytocin- by health facilities in the country.
TTI
WHO recommends every woman to receive a dose of oxytocin within two minutes of giving birth.
It is widely recognised that currently available oxytocin preparations lose potency at elevated temperatures. Like other heat sensitive drugs, undetected heat damage creates the possibility of less-effective oxytocin being administered.
Specifically, WHO recommends that oxytocin should be kept protected from light and unless otherwise indicated on the label and stored at a temperature between two degree Celsius and eight degree Celsius, hence the use of TTI to monitor its exposure to heat.
Time Temperature Indicators (TTI) are visual indicators of cumulative heat exposure. In their simplest form, these small circular labels can be adhered to or printed directly on drug or vaccine packages, labels and vials.
Each TTI inner square is chemically active and changes colour irreversibly from light to dark as the product is exposed to heat over time.
By comparing the colour of the inner square to the reference colour in the outer circle of the indicator, healthcare workers can determine if the product has been exposed to too much heat before deciding to use or discard the drug.
Research
Thus, in order to ensure the drugs do not get damaged by changes in temperature, the USAID systems for health, PATH and Ghana Health Service, undertook a research on the use of TTI on oxytocin in 10 health facilities in the Greater Accra and Volta Regions.
Presenting the research findings to the audience, Dr Dzradosi and Elizabeth Abu-Haydar, consultants for PATH, stated that data was collected through direct observation.
They indicated that researchers in the selected hospital, four in the Greater Accra Region and six in the Volta Region, monitored the change in colour of the TTI place on the oxytocin and recorded the change in colour.
In all, 1800 Oxytocin were placed on TTI, and 535oxytocin were used within three months at the health facilities. Two of the oxytocin recorded a change in colour in one facility in Greater Accra.
Recommendations
Dr Patrick Aboagye, giving the recommendations of the research, explained that the study recommends health authorities to emboss one TTI on a 10-ampoule of oxytocin for all facilities in Ghana, and that it is done at all the levels of the manufacturer.
That manufacturing of oxytocin in Ghana with TTI embossed on the pack is considered, and there is an introduction of digital data loggers for effective cold chain monitoring in Ghana.
 By Jamila Akweley Okertchiri