Hesperian Health Guides
The Community Medicine Kit
Starting a community medicine kit may help save someone’s life. See the chart to know which medicines can be used to start treatment until other medical help is available. Make sure these medicines are in your kit or at the nearest health post. If you need to buy them, meet with your community leaders to explain how these medicines can help save lives. Ask them to find ways for the community to purchase them and keep them in stock.
What to include in a medicine kit to treat emergencies discussed in this book:
| Problem | Medicine |
| pelvic infection (PID): | tablets: cefixime,azithromycin, doxycycline, erythromycin, metronidazole for injection: ceftriaxone |
| kidney infection: | tablets: ciprofloxacin, cotrimoxazole for injection: ceftriaxone |
| bleeding after birth, abortion, or miscarriage: | tablets: misoprostol for injection: oxytocin, ergometrine |
| infection after birth, abortion, or miscarriage: | tablets: doxycycline, metronidazole for injection: ampicillin, ceftriaxone, clindamycin, gentamicin, metronidazole |
| eclampsia during or after birth | diazepam or magnesium sulfate |
| emergency pregnancy prevention (after rape, broken condom, or other emergency): | Combined birth control pills, minipills, or special emergency contraception pills. |
| allergic reaction to antibiotic: |
epinephrine,
diphenhydramine, |
| unwanted pregnancy: | mifepristone and misoprostal, pregnancy test strips |
This page was updated:13 Nov 2023