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Do you feel tired and lethargic?
Are you struggling with your work or studies?

You might have anaemia

Do you want to be tested and find better ways to treat anaemia?

Make a difference to your own health and women worldwide by participating in a research study

Join the WOMAN-3 trial
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Trial Status:

Set up phase

3
Countries
9
Sites

ANAEMIA AND WHY WE NEED BETTER TREATMENTS

Anaemia means having too few healthy red cells in the blood. Bleeding is an important cause of anaemia in women who still menstruate due to loss of iron in the blood every time they menstruate.

Worldwide, half a billion women of reproductive age are anaemic (1 in 3), with a particularly high burden in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa.

Anaemia affects wellbeing, educational attainment, physical endurance, fertility and participation in work, social, and leisure activities. In pregnancy, anaemia increases the risk of death of mothers in childbirth and can lead to stillbirth and death in babies soon after birth, and preterm birth.

Menstruation as a cause of anaemia is under-researched and remains a hidden topic that is frequently viewed as shameful or dirty.

Due to the taboos surrounding menstruation, menstrual losses of iron and haemoglobin have been overlooked in global efforts to reduce anaemia.

Doctors usually treat anaemia with iron and vitamins. But some people get side effects with iron tablets like stomach upset pain, diarrhoea or constipation and they stop taking it. Even if women do take iron, because they lose so much iron in their periods, they can still have a shortage of iron in their blood.

WHAt IS THE WOMAN-3 TRIAL ABOUT

We are an international group of doctors and researchers working together on the WOMAN-3 trial to find better ways to treat anaemia. Please see Collaborators to find out more about us.

The WOMAN-3 trial is a phase 3 clinical trial that aims to see if giving women with anaemia the normal iron and vitamin supplements plus tranexamic acid during menstruation can lead to less anaemia and improve anaemia quicker. The participant information sheets which has the full information for each country can be found under each country’s tab.

Tranexamic acid (TXA) is a medicine used routinely to treat heavy periods and to save lives from bad bleeding from surgery, injuries and after childbirth. There are no common known side effects. We hope that if women with anaemia take iron and vitamins and also TXA during their period, this will help the amount of iron lost and increase their iron stores and lead to faster recovery from anaemia. Reducing menstrual bleeding should also help treat anaemia due to other causes.

To take part women must be 18 years old or over and have periods. About 4000 women from Nigeria, Pakistan and Tanzania will take part in this study.

More about the WOMAN-3 trial

Be part of the WOMAN-3 trial

Why be part?

    • You will find out if you have anaemia.
    • If you have anaemia and take part, you will get further tests iron and vitamin treatment along with study tablets.
    • We hope that the study tablets will help to treat your anaemia more than usual treatment alone but there is a 50:50 chance that you will get the study medicine (tranexamic acid or TXA) or placebo (a dummy tablet).
    • TXA is not a new medicine – there are no common side effects. Rare side effects cannot be ruled out.
    • The standard anaemia treatment and if we find any infestation which is causing your anaemia, treatment will be free.

    Who can take part?

      • Women who are 18 years or older and still having periods.
      • Only those whose blood test show anaemia can go on to the main trial.
      • You have given your consent to take part.

      What is involved?

      • Take the trial treatment (tranexamic acid) for six menstrual periods or no longer than nine months
      • Attend in person for an initial and two monthly follow-up visits for health checks and blood tests
      • Phone contact in between follow-up visits for health checks
      • Complete a short daily diary about your menstrual period, how you are feeling and tablets taken (approx. 5 minutes/day around/during periods)

      MAKE A DIFFERENCE BY PARTICIPATING IN WOMAN-3

      By taking part: 

      • You will receive blood tests and other health checks free.
      • You will receive the  iron and vitamin treatments and study tablets free of charge. 
      • We will give you menstrual pads or other period product of your choice.
      • We will offer you a small thank-you gift.
      • You will increase knowledge about your own health.
      • You will increase knowledge about how to treat anaemia in women  worldwide.
      • If we find that TXA helps to treat anaemia, this will improve the lives of millions of women.


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      COLLABORATING INSTITUTIONS:

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      OUR FUNDERS: