Abstract
The study aimed to explore perceptions of stakeholders regarding misoprostol use in Cambodia, a setting with high maternal mortality. Semi-structured expert interviews were conducted with 21 participants in the capital, Phnom Penh. The sample included participants involved in providing reproductive health services through international and local health agencies and the pharmaceutical industry. A theme of controversy over the role of misoprostol in the context of reproductive health services emerged, along with a need to reconcile legitimate viewpoints in order to understand the place of misoprostol in the Cambodian reproductive health setting. Understanding stakeholder perspectives on misoprostol can shed light on the drug’s role in reproductive health programming where maternal mortality is high and health facilities are still improving.
Acknowledgments
The authors acknowledge Marie Stopes International for partial funding of this research.
Disclosure
All authors had access to the data, commented on subsequent drafts, and approved the final submitted version. All authors read and approved the final manuscript. The sponsor of the study (Marie Stopes International) had no role in study design, data collection, data analysis, data interpretation, or writing of this paper. The manuscript contents are the sole responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the sponsor.