Towards a Fistula Free Generation: Connecting Women to Knowledge and Care

Session recording will be available soon.
Session Date: April 22, 2021

Session Description: Achieving a fistula free generation requires both treatment of existing fistula and prevention of future incidence. Drawing upon over 13 years of fistula prevention, treatment, and reintegration programming in over 11 countries, through the Fistula Care and Fistula Care Plus projects, we will discuss barriers women experience in seeking, reaching, and accessing information and care; innovative approaches to address them; and lessons learned to create a road map for future fistula–related programming and research. We will discuss the causes of and contributors to fistula occurrence, particularly the increasing role of unsafe surgery in causing iatrogenic fistula; global prevalence; the role of catheterization in fistula prevention and treatment; and what holistic fistula care entails. We will present “best practices” towards facilitating women’s, family, and community access to the information and care they need and desire, and identify “enablers” for successful programming. We will share successful community strategies to connect women with knowledge about fistula prevention and treatment, and available care. Presenters will draw upon global and country-specific experiences; including community engagement strategies employed in Uganda, and research and piloting of an intervention that integrated an interactive voice response screening hotline and vouchers for transportation in Nigeria and Uganda.

Session File(s) Towards a Fistula Free Generation: Connecting Women to Knowledge and Care PPT.pdf