Six new partners will expand surgical care to new regions and countries
This year, we are happy to welcome six new hospital partners into our global network spanning 83 partners in 30 countries. A new partnership with Mercy Women’s Catholic Hospital in Ghana marks our entrance into the country of Ghana. By partnering once more with Danja Fistula Center in Niger we return to that country (where we last supported surgeries in 2019). In 2024, Fistula Foundation Partners—old and new—will bring life-transforming care to women at more than 150 hospital sites.
New Partners in 2024
Polyclinique Beniker (DRC)
Polyclinique Beniker is a private, non-profit health facility in Southeast Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), located in the city of Lubumbashi in Haut Katanga Province. Lubumbashi is the second largest city in DRC, after Kinshasa, the capital city of the country. The incidence of fistula across the province is high, with nearly 75% of affected women giving birth at home. Polyclinique Beniker once served as a site for surgical outreach efforts conducted by other Fistula Foundation Partners, but will now provide routine fistula services at its facility. It aims to conduct community outreach to find women with fistula and provide 40 surgeries this year.
Mercy Women’s Catholic Hospital (Ghana)
A new partnership with Mercy Women’s Catholic Hospital in Ghana marks Fistula Foundation’s entrance into that country. Child marriage is common in Ghana, and the country has high rates of teenage pregnancy. Both are risk factors for obstetric fistula. Despite being a facility that hosts surgical outreach efforts (as opposed to continuous care), Mercy Women’s Catholic Hospital has a dedicated fistula ward. It aims to increase its outreach and rehabilitation efforts and work toward a holistic model of care. The facility will provide 120 repair surgeries this year.
WASO HOPE CBO (Kenya)
Waso Hope Community Based Organization (CBO) joins the Fistula Foundation Treatment Network (FFTN) in Kenya as its first outreach organization serving Isiolo County and its surrounding area—a pastoralist region where the maternal mortality rate remains high. Through targeted community outreach, Waso Hope will identify and refer 52 women to treatment partners across the FFTN in Kenya. The organization will also conduct advocacy campaigns to create awareness about fistula, reduce stigma, and teach community members about safe motherhood practices.
Danja Fistula Center (Niger)
Danja Fistula Center is one of the only specialized fistula facilities in the country of Niger. It has been offering care to women with birth-related injuries for more than 10 years. Fistula Foundation last supported surgeries at this facility in 2019, and we are happy to reinitiate our partnership. Niger has been ranked the poorest, least developed country in the world by the World Health Organization, and it is consistently cited as one of the hardest countries in the world to be a woman. Danja Fistula Center will provide 100 repair surgeries this year.
Somali Maternal and Fistula Care Organization (Somalia)
Somali Maternal and Fistula Care Organization (SOMAFCO) is a nonprofit organization that was founded in March 2023 by Dr. Abdirisak Hassan Artan, a FIGO Fellow. SOMAFCO is based out of Sahal Women’s and Fistula Hospital, a private facility in Mogadishu. Most fistula repair services in Somalia are conducted at surgical outreach efforts. SOMAFCO offers comprehensive, continuous care. In addition to conducting outreach and providing transportation to patients in need of care, SOMAFCO aims to provide 95 repair surgeries to women in need.
Surgical Centre Mbarara (Uganda)
Surgical Centre Mbarara is a private health facility that focuses on urological surgery and general surgical care. In the southwestern region of Uganda, where Surgical Centre Mbarara is located, there are no facilities offering continuous fistula care. Surgical Centre Mbarara aims to fill this void by providing 80 surgeries at the facility. It will also use community mobilizers and disseminate information through radio spots to find and refer women in need of care.