Women suffering from fistula in Chad will have access to a regional medical center which specializes in treating women with fistula, thanks to one woman’s very generous gift to The Fistula Foundation.
Her donation will help The Center for Reproductive Health and Fistula Repair become a center of excellence with the capacity to treat even more women suffering from obstetric fistula. The Center’s strategic location in Chad’s capital city of N’Djamena, near the country’s borders with Cameroon, Nigeria and Niger, means that women throughout the entire region will benefit.
This new infusion of support enables Fistula Foundation partner Women and Health Alliance International (WAHA) to work with the Chadian Ministry of Health to expand the Center’s ability to offer high-quality fistula treatment to more women throughout the border region. 300 women will receive fistula repair surgeries, transportation and follow-up medical visits, and medical staff and nurses will receive training from senior fistula experts.
Patient data collection will be improved, which will enable a higher level of patient care over the course of treatment. WAHA will also be able to work with partners throughout Chad to establish patient referral links, and strengthen social reintegration support for women both before and after surgery
WAHA has high hopes for the success of the next phase of this project. In a message to the foundation, WAHA Director General, Dr. Sinan Khaddaj, wrote, “The personnel at the facility are highly motivated to provide improved fistula repair services through the implementation of the project’s activities, thereby raising the standard of the fistula surgery performed in Chad. It is essential for the project’s success that we will be able to continuously leverage this commitment and motivation to create a fistula center that provides high quality care and treatment.”
This article originally appeared in Fistula Foundation’s Spring 2013 newsletter. Click here to view the entire newsletter.