Despite fistula being treatable and preventable, half a million women and girls worldwide continue to live with this condition. Thousands of new cases occur annually among women in hardest to reach communities, including across Asia and the Pacific.
End Fistula | UNFPA Asia Pacific
Nepal
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Story: How a clinic in rural Nepal is giving women a chance for a brighter future
Devi travelled almost five hours from the city of Katihar in eastern India to reach the specialist clinic at B.P. Koirala Institute of Health Sciences (BPKIHS) in eastern Nepal. Located in Dharan, a city at the foothills of the Himalayas, it is the only facility in the area successfully treating obstetric fistula โ one of the most serious injuries of childbearing.
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Video: Eliminating Obstetric Fistula and Child, Early and Forced Marriages in Nepal
Watch as Dr. Mohan Chandra Regmi from Nepal speaks about obstetric fistula - a devastating condition that can have life-altering effects on a woman's physical and emotional well-being. Fistula is not only preventable but also treatable. Let's work to #EndFistula by 2030.
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Pakistan
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Story: When thereโs a will, thereโs a way
When Dr. Shershah returned home to Pakistan from his medical training in the UK in early 1990s he knew next to nothing about obstetric fistula, which is one of the most serious injuries of childbearing.โI was hoping to open an in vitro fertilisation clinic. But once I arrived at the government hospital and I saw what fistula was, I got very upset. I felt useless,โ the veteran surgeon recounts one December afternoon from the city of Atlanta in the US, where heโs been fundraising for his Pakistan-based hospital.
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Video: Sobia's journey as a fistula survivor in Pakistan
After giving birth to twins in 2013, Sobia from Pakistan developed fistula. Almost a decade later, with support from UNFPA for treatment and surgery in 2023, she is now completely healthy. Watch her journey as we mark International Day to #EndFistula 2024.
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Bangladesh
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Story: When thereโs a will, thereโs a way
โIt all started in the village. Weโve got family planning health workers, midwives and all of them are trained, with field workers going door to door, they also do family planning. In Bangladesh, we have skilled diploma-graduated midwives, so most deliveries are with skilled birth attendants, at the union level facility by the midwivesโ says Dr. Anowara Begum, Bangladeshโs veteran obstetric fistula surgeon, who has been helping women since the 1980s.
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