International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics

The film Fistula Pilgrims was written, produced and directed by Nancy Durrell McKenna for FIGO in collaboration with her own organisation, Safehands.

It tells the story of Telanish, a young girl in Ethiopia who was married at 10, pregnant at 11 and gave birth to a stillborn child at 12. As a result of a long and obstructed labour, she has a fistula and is left incontinent, an outcast from her community. There are approximately two million women who suffer from obstetric fistula around the world, with more added every day. With training, the complications that cause fistula can be avoided and spare young women like Telanish a lifetime of misery.

To view the video, click here

If you wish to support FIGO's activities in this area, you can do so by completing the form on the right.

FIGO Fistula Initiative (development of a competency-based training manual)

Funding secured: 450,000 US dollars 

From: United Nations Population Fund (www.unfpa.org), plus £5,000 private donation

Launched: A special training manual has been developed and is currently undergoing pilot testing in five centres (early 2010) 

Length of project: Three years 

Background: According to the World Health Organisation, approximately two million women have untreated fistula and approximately 100,000 women develop fistula each year.  It is most prevalent in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia. Less than 6 in 10 women in developing countries give birth with any trained professional, such as a midwife or a doctor.  When complications arise, as they do in approximately 15 per cent of all births, there is no one available to treat the woman. 

Aim of project: To co-ordinate the production of a competency-based training manual aimed at trainers and individual practitioners in low- and middle-income countries. 

Countries involved: The first six centres that have been selected for the pilot trial are: Bangladesh, Ethiopia (Addis Ababa and Bahir Dar), Nigeria, Tanzania and Senegal.