
This October, we hit a major milestone:
We officially passed the 100,000 mark in the number of surgeries that we’ve provided since 2009.
This six-figure landmark cements the Foundation’s legacy of providing life-changing transformations for tens of thousands of women who would otherwise still be suffering. Every woman who has been healed—thanks to our dedicated partners and compassionate donors—has been given a new life, and been granted the opportunity to start again.

Since 2009, Fistula Foundation has been on a global mission to end the suffering caused by obstetric fistula, a childbirth injury that affects at least one million poor and vulnerable women worldwide. We serve as an essential bridge between women who suffer needlessly and selfless people who want to help them. Across that bridge flow resources to doctors who perform life-transforming surgery and to outreach workers who connect women with the treatment that they deserve.
We are the undisputed global leader in obstetric fistula treatment, funding more fistula repair surgeries across more countries than any other organization, including the United Nations and the U.S. government.
Click on the map below to discover how many surgeries we’ve provided in each country to-date:
A legacy of life-changing transformations
Fistula surgery has the power to completely transform a woman’s life.
It grants her physical, psychological, social, and financial freedom. Before treatment, she sits in agony. A successful surgery empowers her to take back her life and rise to her fullest potential. Each woman’s journey to healing is heartwarming and heroic. Taken as a collective, these individual transformations are economically quantifiable.
Check out our favorite transformation stories from the archives:

A boost to the global economy
In celebration of surpassing 100,000 surgeries, the Fistula Foundation program staff calculated the economic productivity gained by treating women with fistula. For every $1 invested in fistula treatment, there is a significant return on investment in the form of increased productivity.
In 2024, the average cost of repair surgery across our global network of more than 90 partners was just $619. The team estimates that the women we’ve healed have added $1.7 billion in total gross value to the global economy. This boost in productivity is a direct result of women’s ability to participate in both unpaid caregiving and paid work post-surgery.
Earlier this year, we calculated the economic impact of untreated fistula. Read the findings and the white paper here.
Calculating the Impact of 100K Surgeries
The team estimates that the women we’ve healed have added $1.7 billion in total gross value to the global economy. Here is the methodology behind the numbers.
The future of fistula care
It reflects the kind of society we want to create—one where health systems are inclusive, equitable, and responsive to the needs of all, especially the most vulnerable among us. By investing in women’s health, we foster sustainable, inclusive growth that benefits not only individual women but also entire families and communities.
We’ve come so far, but there is still so far to go. Without continued investment in fistula care, women will have to wait for care. Or in the worst case scenario, they will remain incontinent, alone, and ashamed.
As we look ahead to the next milestone, our mission remains unwavering: to ensure that every woman suffering from obstetric fistula receives the compassionate care that she deserves. With the continued support of our donors and the dedicated work of our partners, we can build a world where no woman is left behind, and where every woman is empowered to reclaim her health, renew her hope, and relish in her beautiful future.