Experts Meeting to Address Obstetric Fistula in Rwanda

KIGALI, RWANDA—Leading experts and physicians working in the reproductive and maternal health field will convene in Kigali December 7–8, 2009, to identify challenges and solutions to a pressing and preventable health concern in Rwanda—obstetric fistula. Hosted by the Ministry of Health, in collaboration with the Rwanda Medical Association and the U.S. Agency for International Development-supported Fistula Care Project (managed by EngenderHealth), the meeting will engage policymakers, health officials, medical staff, and community leaders to set achievable goals for preventing fistula and improving Rwandan women’s health.

Fistula affects an estimated 2–4 million women globally, including in Rwanda. It is a devastating gynecological injury usually caused by prolonged labor without medical intervention or cesarean section. As a result, women with fistula have chronic leakage of urine and/or feces. In most cases, fistula can be repaired through surgery, and it is almost always preventable—with timely, high-quality obstetric care as well as family planning.

At the meeting, national and international experts will strategize on how to best to integrate family planning with maternal health services to prevent fistula and improve the health and lives of Rwandan women. Leading physicians will be available to offer their expertise and comment on the issues, including:

• Dr. Isaiah Ndong, Vice President for Programs, EngenderHealth
• Dr. Joseph Ruminjo, Clinical Director of Fistula Care, EngenderHealth
• Dr. Theobald Hategekimana, Director, University Central Hospital of Kigali
• Dr Serigne Magueye Gueye, Fistula Master Trainer, Cheikh Anta Diop University/Grand Yoff General Hospital, Senegal

The meeting will be held at the Serena Hotel in Kigali. Members of the media are invited to attend the opening ceremony on December 7 and the morning session on December 8. Please contact Kellen Kebikomi by telephone at 250-25257-0912 or by email at kkebikomi@engenderhealth.org to confirm your attendance.

About Fistula Care
The Fistula Care project is a five-year cooperative agreement funded by USAID and managed by EngenderHealth. The project works to address the enormous backlog of women awaiting life-altering fistula repair, ensuring they receive timely and quality care from trained providers. At the same time, we work to remove barriers to emergency obstetric care that lead to fistula in the first place, so that women in labor get to the right place with the right services at the right time. The project is supporting a network of facilities offering a continuum of services, from emergency obstetric care, referrals, and family planning, to complex fistula repairs and advanced surgical training. Visit www.fistulacare.org for more information or contact us at: fistulacare@engenderhealth.org.

About EngenderHealth
EngenderHealth is a leading international reproductive health organization working to improve the quality of health care in the world’s poorest communities. EngenderHealth empowers people to make informed choices about contraception, trains health providers to make motherhood safer, promotes gender equity, enhances the quality of HIV and AIDS services, and advocates for positive policy change. The nonprofit organization works in partnership with governments, institutions, communities, and health care professionals in more than 20 countries around the world. For more than 65 years, EngenderHealth has reached more than 100 million people to help them realize a better life. For more information, visit www.engenderhealth.org.

(From the EngenderHealth press release)

New Series of HIV and AIDS Program Briefs

This World AIDS Day, EngenderHealth announces a new series of HIV and AIDS program briefs highlighting promising practices and lessons learned from our work. The briefs explore hallmarks of our programs, including strengthening health systems, developing human resources, engaging communities, and advocating for supportive policies. In nine countries, EngenderHealth partners with local clinics and community-based organizations to provide comprehensive HIV and AIDS prevention, care, and treatment services.

The first in the series is a set of five briefs on the AIDS, Population, and Health Integrated Assistance (APHIA II) Nyanza Project, which is based in Nyanza, Kenya. APHIA II is a holistic project to improve and expand HIV prevention, treatment, care, and support services, along with integrated reproductive health, maternal health, family planning, malaria, tuberculosis, and child health services.

The briefs in this series are:

• Implementation Strategy of the APHIA II Nyanza Project (PDF, 416KB)
  
• Improving Health Facility–Based Services in Nyanza Province, Kenya: The APHIA II Nyanza Project (PDF, 372KB)
• Implementing a Community Strategy within the APHIA II Nyanza Project (PDF, 328KB)
• Community-Based Care and Support within the APHIA II Nyanza Project (PDF, 380KB)
• Strengthening the Kenya Health Management Information System (HMIS) for Monitoring and Evaluation of the APHIA II Nyanza Project (PDF, 372KB)

APHIA II Nyanza is supported by the U.S. Agency for International Development and is managed by EngenderHealth, in collaboration with Kenya’s Ministry of Health. Other partners include: the Academy for Educational Development (AED), the Christian Health Association of Kenya, Inter Diocesan Christian Community Services, and PATH.

For more information about the APHIA II Nyanza Project and EngenderHealth’s HIV and AIDS programs, please visit www.engenderhealth.org/aphia or contact Sharone Beatty at: sbeatty@engenderhealth.org.

World AIDS Day Community Statement

EngenderHealth is among the organizations signing the World AIDS Day Community Statement, which recognizes the advances that have been made in the response to HIV and AIDS, as well as the challenges ahead. Download the full statement. (PDF, 3.0mb)

First Lady of Tanzania Visits EngenderHealth-Supported Clinic

In November 2009, the First Lady of Tanzania, Mama Salma Kikwete, visited Madaba Health Centre, a facility in the Ruvuma Region in southwestern Tanzania that is supported by EngenderHealth and that serves 50,000 people. The First Lady was there as part of a national campaign to reduce maternal and neonatal mortality, and she spoke about the importance of avoiding early pregnancy, improving maternal health care, and openly discussing HIV and preventing its spread.

EngenderHealth, through a U.S. Agency for International Development–supported ACQUIRE Project Associate Award, is helping to equip facilities in the Ruvuma Region with obstetric wards and is improving the quality and use of family planning services by training health care staff, strengthening supervisors’ skills, and raising awareness in communities. Over the past year, more than 400 clients received long-acting or permanent methods of contraception at Madaba, and nearly 9,000 clients received these methods in the region overall. EngenderHealth, through funding from the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), also trains health care professionals to provide counseling and testing for HIV and AIDS, other reproductive health services, and life-skills coaching to youth.

Last year, EngenderHealth assisted 38 facilities throughout Tanzania in improving the quality of their maternal health and family planning services.

Learn more about EngenderHealth’s work in Tanzania.

New Comprehensive Web Site Dedicated to Maternal Health

NEW YORK, NY—November 30, 2009—Today marks the launch of the Maternal Health Task Force’s new web site, which brings together experts, activists, policy makers, students, and others in one virtual place to move the maternal health agenda forward. The site will be the leading online platform for those committed to improving maternal health, offering individuals and organizations from around the world a place to discover resources, to collaborate with others, and to discuss successful strategies.

Discover
Featuring the first search engine solely focused on maternal health data and information, the web site has an ever-growing library of more than 1,300 journal articles, research and program reports, conference presentations, toolkits, and other materials. One of three interactive maps illustrates maternal health work being carried out by organizations around the world; this feature currently highlights organizations in six countries and is expected to map many more.

Collaborate
On the Partner Channel, organizations can post updates on their maternal health projects, and visitors can learn more about what these organizations are doing. Visitors can also use the Partner Channel to engage with experts from allied fields like HIV and human rights. The Collaborate section includes an interactive calendar highlighting more than 300 upcoming events in 2009 and 2010.

Discuss
The web site is highly interactive; visitors can join live chat sessions, participate in and hold discussions on the e-Forum page, add their expertise to the Wiki page, and take part in online polls on key issues. There is also a video blog where visitors can comment on, rate, and discuss videos related to maternal health. Thus far, the Maternal Health Task Force has 500 members, and many of our partners and members are already engaged in dialogue and contributing content.

Explore the web site and become a member by registering at www.maternalhealthtaskforce.org. For more information, please contact Raji Mohanam at 212-561-8522 or rmohanam@engenderhealth.org.

About the Maternal Health Task Force
The Maternal Health Task Force at EngenderHealth contributes to shaping collective efforts to improve maternal health worldwide. Supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and initiated in late 2008, the Task Force serves as a catalyst to address one of the most neglected areas in global health. Recognizing that real progress requires better coordination and increased global attention, the Maternal Health Task Force brings together existing maternal health expertise and engages new organizations to facilitate global coordination of maternal health programs around three thematic areas: research and evidence, programs and evaluation, and advocacy and policy.

About EngenderHealth
EngenderHealth is a leading international reproductive health organization working to improve the quality of health care in the world’s poorest communities. EngenderHealth empowers people to make informed choices about contraception, trains health providers to make motherhood safer, promotes gender equity, enhances the quality of HIV and AIDS services, and advocates for positive policy change. The nonprofit organization works in partnership with governments, institutions, communities, and health care professionals in more than 20 countries around the world. For more than 65 years, EngenderHealth has reached more than 100 million people to help them realize a better life. For more information, visit www.engenderhealth.org.

(From EngenderHealth's press release.)

EngenderHealth Staff Member Joins Global Network of Men Leaders

On November 24, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon launched his Network of Men Leaders at the official observance of the 10th anniversary of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. In addition to EngenderHealth's own Senior Technical Advisor Andrew Levack, members include Desmond Tutu, Paulo Coelho, and José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero (the prime minister of Spain). The Network will provide a platform for world leaders to advocate for and provide guidance and direction to end violence against women. Learn more.

Bringing Back Dignity: Fistula Survivors in Ethiopia

Three newly-posted videos tell the stories of Tihun, Yeserash, and Abebu -- three young women from Ethiopia who have survived obstetric fistula. The women and their family members give insight into the difficulties of life with fistula, the joys of being repaired, and the lessons learned from their experiences. These videos are excerpts from the film "Bringing Back Dignity," produced under the ACQUIRE Project funded by USAID.

Despite the double tragedy of losing her baby and developing a fistula, Tihun has been blessed with a supportive husband who did not leave her when she was ill. Her husband Aweke explains that everyone urged him to leave his wife with beliefs that he would contract her condition, but he would not do so. Both Tihun and Aweke have learned valuable lessons from Tihun's fistula. Aweke regrets not being careful to use protection that would prevent an early pregnancy. Tihun vows that if she ever has a daughter she will not marry her off, and instead will let her go to school and then choose her own husband.

Yeserash and her father, Simeneh, express the hardships of obstetric fistula as well as the lessons learned from their experience. Simeneh's father regrets marrying off his daughter at the young age of 12 or 13 and vows that he will not do the same with his other daughters. He wishes other people would learn from his "painful mistake", urging them not to arrange early marriages and to allow their daughters to consent to marriage. Yeserash is now fully recovered and has since had a health baby boy.

Abebu, a 20-year-old fistula survivor, describes the hardships of living with a fistula and how her life has been transformed by repair. Abebu was married at the age of 15 and developed her fistula after four days of prolonged labor. When her leaking began, her husband stole her property and threw her out and her parents shunned her. Now that she is cured, Abebu is glad to be able to mingle with friends and participate in community events.

These videos recount hardships and celebrate achievements related to the participant's daily struggles with pregnancy, loss, and relationships, as well as their search for safety, acceptance, and dignity. Our hope is that viewers will come away with greater compassion, as well as an understanding of what causes fistula, how women can be repaired, and why community members, the health sector, and policymakers all have critical roles to play in prevention.

Save the Date: Accelerating Equality for Women and Girls Around the World

If you live in the New York City area, please join us on Thursday, December 3, for this important event. "Accelerating Equality for Women and Girls around the World: A Conversation with Media, Activists, Entrereneurs, and You" will include:

• Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn, authors of Half the Sky
• Taina Bien-Aime, Equality Now
• Bill Drayton, Ashoka
• Ana Langer, EngenderHealth

The event will be moderated by Maria Hinojosa, Senior Correspondent, NOW on PBS.

This event is free and open to all, but space is limited. To attend, you must RSVP to rsvp@engenderhealth.org. For more information, read the online invitation, or call 212-561-8456.

EngenderHealth's Carrie Ngongo Receives Special Recognition in New York Times Contest

Congratulations to EngenderHealth's Carrie Ngongo! Carrie, Senior Program Associate with Fistula Care, received an honorable mention in New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof's Half the Sky contest.

Carrie’s reflection on motherhood and the inspiring work to help women with fistula get treatment was selected from more than 700 entries.

You can help EngenderHealth make motherhood safer around the world! Join us.

And don't miss EngenderHealth's Reader's Companion for Half the Sky!

EngenderHealth's Fistula Care Project Highlighted at the Huffington Post

Hanna Ingber Win, the World Editor of the Huffington Post, writes about obstetric fistula today as part of her series on mothers in Ethiopia. As part of her research, Hanna talked to Karen Beattie, project director of EngenderHealth's global Fistula Care Project (funded by USAID), who is featured in the column. Read the full column.