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Posted by Administrator
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The overall objective of AMREF's Clinical Programme is to improve the capacity of health systems to deliver quality health services through strengthening of facility based services especially in remote and underserved areas in the eastern African region. The Clinical Programme encompasses two main programmes: the Outreach Programme and the Laboratory Programme.
website: AMREF Clinical Program Website
Download document (word): VESICO-VAGINAL FISTULA REPAIR: AMREF Experiences and Results
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Posted by Beverley Kerr
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EngenderHealth is an international non-governmental organization working to improve the health and well-being of people in the poorest communities of the world. We do this by sharing our expertise in sexual and reproductive health and transforming the quality of health care. We promote gender equity, advocate for sound practices and policies, and inspire people to assert their rights to better, healthier lives. Working in partnership with local organizations, we adapt our work in response to local needs. EngenderHealth currently supports projects in 40 countries.
With support from various donors including the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and the Department for International Development (DFID), EngenderHealth and the ACQUIRE Project (a USAID cooperative agreement managed by EngenderHealth) partner with national governments and local and international organizations to strengthen and/or implement fistula programs in more than ten countries and two regions in Africa.
EngenderHealth Web site: http://www.engenderhealth.org/
ACQUIRE Project Web site: http://www.acquireproject.org/
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Posted by Beverley Kerr
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FCI was among the first - and is still one of the few - international NGOs to place maternal health at the center of its mission. As the secretariat of the Safe Motherhood Inter-Agency Group (1987-2004), FCI worked with international agencies to raise global awareness about safe motherhood, define goals and programmatic priorities, and stimulate research about how to make pregnancy and childbirth safer. FCI continues these efforts as a co-chair of the Board of the Partnership for Maternal, Newborn, and Child Health (PMNCH).
FCI and UNFPA are finalizing an advocacy publication Living Testimony: Obstetric Fistula and Inequities in Maternal Health in French and English. The publication highlights the key findings of 28-country-level assessments conducted in Africa, Asia, and the Arab states from 2003to 2006. The social, cultural, and economic dimensions of obstetric fistula are presented and policy, programming, and research guidance are provided. FCI and UNFPA will produce an advocacy CD-ROM toolkit to provide guidance in how to use the publication's findings in awareness campaigns in the media, with parliamentarians, and with service providers.
Website: http://www.familycareintl.org/
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Posted by Beverley Kerr
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The International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics, FIGO, is the only worldwide organisation that groups obstetricians and gynaecologists. The mission of FIGO is to promote the well-being of women and to raise the standard of practice in obstetrics and gynaecology. FIGO has grown from an organisation representing the forty-two national societies which attended the founding meeting on the 26th of July, 1954, in Geneva into a worldwide organisation representing obstetricians and gynaecologists in over one hundred territories.
FIGO has been at the forefront of fistula activities for a number of years, and is currently working with UNFPA to develop a competency-based training manual and establish centres for the training of surgeons in the prevention and treatment of fistula.
Web site: www.figo.org
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Posted by Beverley Kerr
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The Geneva Foundation for Medical Research (GFMER), a non-profit organization established in 2002, is co-sponsored by the Department of Health of the Canton of Geneva, the Department of Social Affairs of the City of Geneva, the Faculty of Medicine, Geneva University, and the Geneva Medical Association and works in close collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO). It aims at mobilising resources, both technical and financial, from the public and private sectors. GFMER is a WHO Collaborating Centre in Education and Research in Human Reproduction.
Detailed listing of GFMER's publications: www.gfmer.ch/400_Publications_En.htm
Web Site: http://www.gfmer.ch
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Posted by Administrator
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Drs. Reginald and Catherine Hamlin came to Ethiopia in 1959 to establish a Mdwifery School in the General Hospital in Addis Ababa. Realizing the plight of hundreds of "fistula women", they perfected a 1850's procedure. In so doing, they were able to develop the delicate surgical technique to successfully repair 93% of the fistulae cases presented. Since then over 32,000 obstetric fistulas have been repaired by our expert team and most women have been able to return to their homes and many have given birth safely to live babies. In 1974 the Addis Ababa Fistula Hospital was opened for free treatment of women with childbirth injuries.
Web Site: www.fistulatrust.org/latest_news.html
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Posted by Beverley Kerr
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Mercy Ships was established in 1978 as an international Christian humanitarian organisation using ocean-going vessels to bring physical, social and spiritual assistance to the poorest of the poor. Mercy Ships Sierra Leone (MSSL) is comprised of the Aberdeen West African Fistula Centre, Sierra Leone (formerly Aberdeen Clinic and Fistula Centre - ACFC) and the New Steps Centre. MSSL seeks to provide hope and healing and to serve the forgotten poor who are often marginalized, such as women with child birth injuries, vulnerable children in need of basic health care, people with disabilities and their communities. MSSL seeks to provide life changing surgeries for women with child birth injuries, such as vesico-vaginal fistula (VVF) and community health care services for children 12 years and under, to obtain an improved quality of life.
The Aberdeen West African Fistula Centre, Sierra Leone was offered to Mercy Ships as a health care facility to operate in 2004. In collaboration with the Swiss based AOG Foundation, construction of the centre continued from October 2004 - April 2005. After installation of surgical and medical equipment, the first VVF surgeries started on 26 April 2005, with the out patient clinic for children of 12 and under starting consultations in May 2005. Construction of additional facilities, such as office, kitchen and laundry continued throughout 2005 and in 2006 teams from Rotary International for Britain and Ireland completed a hostel for pre-operative care for VVF patients. The Fistula was officially inaugurated in May 2006 in the presence of the President and Vice President of Sierra Leone as well as international guests.
The Fistula Centre provided over 1,000 surgeries from May 2005 - May 2007 for women with child birth injuries, such as VVF (vesico-vaginal fistula) and over 13,000 health consultations, including vaccinations, took place for children of 12 years and under, primarily for the Aberdeen community, a growing suburb of Greater Freetown, where no health care facility existed, until the opening of the centre.
website: www.mercyships.org
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Posted by Beverley Kerr
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The Bill and Melinda Gates Institute for Population and Reproductive Health seeks to reduce the maternal burden of disease by ensuring all pregnancies are wanted, healthy, and safely delivered and that these outcomes are equitably shared by all individuals locally and globally. Located at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, the Gates Institute works to achieve this goal by supporting the education and research of current and future generations of reproductive health leaders.
To address the issue of obstetric fistula, the Gates Institute hosted a meeting in 2005 entitled "Prevention and Treatment of Obstetric Fistula: Identifying Research Needs and Public Health Priorities". The meeting brought together more than 70 clinicians and public health experts from around the world to discuss the incidence and prevalence of obstetric fistula and the best ways to address this public health problem. In June 2007, the International Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics accepted the papers from this meeting to be printed as a supplement. The electronic supplement is expected to be available in August 2007 and the print supplement will be available in September 2007. The Institute has also supported efforts to improve the clinical classification of fistula to improve surgical treatment and enable better communication with patients about their prognoses and has funded a study to assess the reintegration of Ethiopian women into their communities after successful fistula repair at Addis Ababa Fistula Hospital.
Web site: www.jhsph.edu/gatesinstitute
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Posted by Administrator
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UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, is an international development agency that promotes the right of every woman, man and child to enjoy a life of health and equal opportunity. UNFPA supports countries in using population data for policies and programmes to reduce poverty and to ensure that every pregnancy is wanted, every birth is safe, every young person is free of HIV/AIDS, and every girl and woman is treated with dignity and respect.
Website: www.unfpa.org
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Posted by Beverley Kerr
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Women's Dignity Project (WDP) believes that health is a fundamental human right. WDP mobilizes action to strengthen policies, programmes and services to improve the health status of poor and marginalized persons, particularly girls and women living in poverty. WDP is committed to ensuring that governments, donors, health providers and civil society promote and are held accountable, for improving the well-being and dignity of poor and marginalized persons. In its work on health equity, WDP holds a particular commitment to addressing obstetric fistula. Women's Dignity Project is located in Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania and works on the local, regional and international level to promote health equity and womens' dignity.
Web site: www.womensdignity.org
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