Nearly one million women across the globe suffer from obstetric fistula, a damaging injury sustained in childbirth that leads to incontinence, and many other physical and psychological consequences.

Fistula mostly occurs in women who live in economically disadvantaged and rural areas of Africa and Asia, where access to appropriate healthcare and hygiene is limited, or non-existent.

What’s most disheartening about obstetric fistula is that it is entirely preventable. In the late 1800s, fistula repair surgery became commonplace in Western nations that had good healthcare. As a result, fistula is essentially non-existent in Western countries today.

But for women living in poorer nations in Africa and Asia, suffering from fistula can be incredibly isolating. Fistula can lead to terrible incontinence, chronic infections and pain, and the associated smell and stigma can drive others – including their family – away. This is most common in communities that have little understanding of fistula as a health issue.

Tragically, most survivors of obstetric fistula will give birth to a stillborn baby and are likely to experience an obstructed birth that can go on for up to a week.

Under its Sustainable Development Goals, the United Nations (UN) has a target to end obstetric fistula by 2030. According to the UN, with adequate investment and political will, it is entirely possible for the globe to eradicate fistula in the next 10 years and improve maternal mortality rates.

The UN says fistula can be largely prevented by three solutions: ensuring women have access to high quality emergency obstetric and newborn care, more trained professionals with midwifery skills and better access to contraception.


Philanthropist MacKenzie Scott’s $15 million gift
In good news, the world’s leading organisation in obstetric fistula treatment, the Fistula Foundation, recently announced it had received a sizable gift from high-profile philanthropist MacKenzie Scott, worth $15 million. Scott announced her gift to the organisation on the International Day to End Obstetric Fistula, on May 23.

It is the single largest donation in the Fistula Foundation’s history and will make a significant dent in the organisation’s $110 million five-year strategic plan. The plan revolves around providing 80,000 life-changing surgeries to women in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia who have experienced fistula and incontinence since childbirth.

The Foundation has already supported more than 75,000 surgeries for women since 2009.

“Our hearts burst with gratitude for Ms. Scott’s gift. Because of her generosity, we have a vital down payment on our plan to end—within a generation—the suffering caused by fistula,” said Kate Grant, CEO of the Fistula Foundation.

“This donation is a milestone without precedent for our team, and for our dedicated partners that work every day to heal women with devastating childbirth injuries.”

Under its new strategic plan, the foundation is growing its project, In It to End It, which aims to eradicate fistula suffering where it still persists. The foundation will expand its treatment network model to another five countries to connect women with the treatment they need. More than 40 organisations will also be added to its network of partners. 

The foundation says it is grateful to Scott for her donation, which was made with no strings attached, something that is rare in the philanthropy sector. It means there are less restrictions for the foundation to adhere to as it goes about its essential and life-changing work. 

“Ms Scott is pioneering a revolution in philanthropy,” Kate Grant said. 

“By providing her gift without bureaucratic strings, she’s placed her trust in us. We won’t let her, or the women we are in business to help, down. We are in it to end it, and to ensure that no woman is left behind.”