Pakistan

Our partner, the Pakistan National Forum on Women’s Health, is one of the country’s only fistula treatment providers ensuring women access to life-changing care.

Why We Work in Pakistan

Quality maternal health services remain in short supply in Pakistan. With only 52% of births attended by a skilled medical professional, many women, especially in rural areas, risk serious injury should obstructed labor or other complications arise. A recent study by UNFPA and the Pakistan National Forum on Women’s Health estimates 3,500 cases of obstetric fistula occur in Pakistan every year.

Identifying patients has been difficult. Most women with fistula live in abject poverty, in isolated areas where there is little understanding of fistula and its causes. Many women do not know they are suffering from a treatable medical condition. Compounding these challenges, our partners in Pakistan report difficulty in providing treatment due to a lack of trained and willing surgeons in the country.

What You Help Us Do

We are investing in the following areas to build Pakistan’s in-country medical services and provide life-transforming surgery to as many women as possible:

Cost of Fistula Surgeries
Community Outreach

Meet Our Partners

We identify local surgical teams in Pakistan already successfully treating women with fistula—and then work to amplify their efforts. 

Who are our current partners?
  • Pakistan National Forum on Women’s Health (PNFWH)
    • Location: Abbottabad, Hyderabad, Islamabad, Karachi, Lahore, Larkana, Multan, Peshawar, and Quetta
    • Partner Since: 2017
How much funding have we granted? 

Below are funding totals since the start of each partnership.

Current Partners

  • Pakistan National Forum On Women’s Health (PNFWH): $2,262,555

 

 

News from the Field

International Women’s Day: You Did It!  •  April 06, 2021
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You did it! Thanks to kindhearted donors like you, Fistula Foundation met our $100,000 matching challenge, and raised nearly $225,000 to support vital fistula care in Pakistan. Your gifts will...
You did it! Thanks to kindhearted donors like you, Fistula Foundation met our $100,000 matching challenge, and raised nearly $225,000 to support vital fistula care in Pakistan. Your gifts will provide life-changing care to women like Seema. At only 16 years old, Seema experienced a wrenching labor that lasted for seven days and left her leaking urine uncontrollably. Her in-laws blamed her for her condition, and tried to have her killed so that their son could marry another woman. When their attempts failed, they threw her out of their house in a snowstorm and told her to never come back. Thankfully, Seema’s loving father took her in and helped her manage her condition. After four years of suffering, Seema met a healthcare worker who referred her to Koohi Goth Hospital, Fistula Foundation’s partner in Karachi, Pakistan. There, she received a warm welcome from an experienced staff of nurses, midwives, and certified fistula surgeons. Thanks to the generosity of donors like you, Seema is healed! She is now 20 years old, and hopeful about her future. When our team met up with her, Seema was about to be discharged from the hospital, and was making plans to go back to school and become a teacher. This story originally appeared in the Spring 2021 edition of our newsletter, Transformations.
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Meet Seema from Pakistan  •  March 10, 2021
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At only 16 years old, Seema developed obstetric fistula and her in-laws tried to have her killed so that their son could marry another woman. When their attempts failed, they...
At only 16 years old, Seema developed obstetric fistula and her in-laws tried to have her killed so that their son could marry another woman. When their attempts failed, they threw her out of  their house in a snowstorm. Seema’s troubles began when she went into a wrenching labor at her rural home in Pakistan. It lasted for seven days.
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In Conversation With Expert Fistula Surgeon and Women's Rights Advocate Dr. Shershah Syed  •  March 04, 2021
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On March 4th, 2021, Fistula Foundation’s supporters had a unique opportunity to hear directly from one of our trusted partners on the ground. Dr. Shershah Syed, visionary leader of the...
On March 4th, 2021, Fistula Foundation’s supporters had a unique opportunity to hear directly from one of our trusted partners on the ground. Dr. Shershah Syed, visionary leader of the Pakistan National Forum on Women’s Health (PNFWH), joined us from his office in Karachi for a special livestream event to discuss his vital work helping women in Pakistan. The conversation was led by Kate Grant, Fistula Foundation’s CEO, and Lindsey Pollaczek, VP of Programs. 
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