 |   |
| |
 |  |  | |  |
|
| |
Dear friend, Best wishes, Fistula Care
Country Program UpdatesCommunity Transformation in NigeriaIn Nigeria’s Ebonyi State, leaders are working hard to make maternal deaths and injuries tragedies of the past. The state’s “Mother and Child Care Initiative and Related Matters Law” mandates that a woman cannot labor for more than 10 hours without being referred to a higher level of care. Women in Ebonyi State are already feeling the results. National Fistula Day in GuineaGovernment officials, officers of nongovernmental organizations, community leaders, and fistula survivors came together to raise awareness about fistula and affirm their commitment to preventing and treating the condition. Government Officials Visit Kitovu Mission HospitalIn Uganda, influential government officials recently took time to visit Kitovu Mission Hospital’s fistula repair facility and hear the stories of women undergoing fistula repair. Strategizing for Fistula Treatment and Prevention in MaliThe Malian Ministry of Health continues to demonstrate its commitment to preventing and treating fistula. With Fistula Care support, the Ministry held a workshop in March to update its national policies, norms, and procedures on fistula and to develop tools to support fistula services.
New Publications and ResourcesFistula Care has several new materials on its web site:• La planification familiale pour les femmes et couples après une reparation de la fistule (PDF, 1.14 MB) is the French translation of the booklet Family Planning for Women and Couples after Fistula Repair Surgery. The booklet provides information about 10 different methods of family planning. The English version is available here (PDF, 949KB).• Health Worker Training Materials from Ethiopia: A new facilitator’s manual (PDF, 894 KB) and presentations (PDF, 1.14MB) developed by Fistula Care partner IntraHealth International teach health workers to recognize and prevent obstetric fistula (Note: This is available to Fistula Care partners only). • Making Mobile Phones Work for Women with Fistula: The M-PESA Experience in Kenya and Tanzania: (PDF, 2.2MB) This brief discusses the work of the Freedom from Fistula Foundation in Kenya and Comprehensive Community Based Rehabilitation in Tanzania. Both programs use an innovative combination of mobile banking and community education to provide free fistula treatment to women who need it.
Meetings and EventsGlobal Prospective Study Investigators MeetFistula Care held a meeting with the principal investigators of the recently completed five-country study on the determinants of fistula surgical outcomes. Meeting participants discussed the data analysis and provided feedback. Results from this study will be disseminated in the coming year.Congressional Briefing: Key Progress Addressing Obstetric FistulaU.S. Representative Carolyn Maloney sponsored a congressional briefing featuring partners in the Campaign to End Fistula (the United Nations Population Fund, EngenderHealth, the Fistula Foundation, Human Rights Watch, and the International Women’s Health Coalition) to discuss the impact of U.S.-supported programs that treat and prevent fistula. Mary Ellen Stanton, Senior Technical Advisor for Maternal Health at the United States Agency for International Development, and Carrie Ngongo, Senior Program Associate at EngenderHealth, spoke about the work of Fistula Care.
New on the Web SiteStories from the Field:New stories about fistula patients are now available online:• In Mali, Agaicha recovered from fistula and now works with women who still suffer from it. • While living with fistula, Zemede opened her home to women in Ethiopia who were on their way to the hospital for repair. After 27 years of living with fistula, Zemede will finally receive repair surgery. • Agegnehush, an Ethiopian mother of three children, developed fistula after her fourth pregnancy. Provider Profile: Dr. Abubakar BelloEven though he has assisted with more than 1,000 obstetric fistula repairs, as a young medical student Dr. Abubakar Bello resisted being on call during a woman’s childbirth. He says, “I couldn’t watch a women in labor or see her in pain.” After a supervisor in school repeatedly directed Dr. Bello to the labor ward, he became passionate about maternal and reproductive health and now works as an obstetrician-gynecologist and surgeon.
Fistula Care in the NewsEngenderHealth’s Isaiah Ndong Blogs about Obstetric FistulaVice President of Programs Isaiah Ndong reflected in a Global Health blog post on the need to strengthen health systems to prevent and treat fistula.EngenderHealth Staff in Uganda Promote Partograph UseIn a recent article on the Global Health blog, Program Associate Joslyn Meier and Senior Medical Associate Dr. Peter Mukasa write about the partograph, a decision-guiding tool that can prevent maternal deaths and injuries.
| |
This newsletter was made possible by the generous support of the American people through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), under the terms of the cooperative agreement GHS-A-00-07-00021-00. The information provided on this web site is not official U.S. Government information and does not represent the views or positions of the USAID or the U.S. Government.