Fistula Foundation

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Fistula Foundation

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🌍 Global leader in obstetric fistula treatment, healing women across Africa and Asia
🧡 $624 can end needless suffering, and transform a woman's life

Obstetric fistula is most prevalent in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia, so that's where we focus our efforts. We partner with carefully selected doctors and hospitals trusted by the communities they serve. Since 2009, we have delivered more than 75,000 life-transforming repair surgeries at more than 120 sites in 33 countries across Africa and Asia. Supporters like you from around the world have joined forces with our dedicated doctors, outreach workers, and brave survivors. Together, we can end the suffering caused by obstetric fistula, and give women their lives back. You can trust that your gifts are in good hands. Fistula Foundation receives the highest ratings from every industry watchdog group and is committed to accountability and transparency.

10/05/2026

Our CEO Pam Lowney sat down with Pulse 2.0 to talk about Fistula Foundation's growth, our focus on local partnerships, and her approach to leadership.

With up to one million women still in need, Pam shares that "every decision comes back to one question: Will this help more women get treated?"

A few highlights from the interview:

🧡 Our surgical partners across Africa and Asia delivered 83% more surgeries in 2025 compared to 2022.
🧡 In 2025, more than 88% of fistula repair surgeries across our global network restored women's continence.
🧡 More than 95% of the surgeries we support are performed by providers from the regions they serve.
🧡 Our Fistula Foundation Treatment Network, a care model first launched in Kenya, is now operating in six countries.

Read the full interview here: https://pulse2.com/fistula-foundation-profile-pam-lowney-interview/

09/28/2026

On September 3, we celebrated the launch of our newest countrywide treatment network––the Fistula Foundation Treatment Network (FFTN)in Uganda! 🎉

Since 2011, we’ve supported more than 8,600 surgeries in Uganda. Now, the FFTN will help unite all our partners to reach more women.

Thousands of Ugandan women are still living with untreated fistula and severe perineal tears. This network is how we reach them faster.

Today, your gift DOUBLES to help provide life-transforming treatment for more women in Uganda. Our 2X Challenge Match ends September 30. https://bit.ly/3UHEkxP

09/22/2026

Roughly 5% of pregnancies result in obstructed labor. What happens next often depends on where a woman lives.

In CEO Pam Lowney’s new article for Forbes Nonprofit Council, she explores why surgery remains on the margins of global health investment—even though conditions requiring surgical care account for nearly a third of the world's disease burden, and 5 billion people lack access to safe, affordable surgical care.

The average cost of a fistula repair surgery is about $624—and a 2024 peer-reviewed study of more than 13,000 of our supported surgeries found a cost of about $58 per disability-adjusted life year (DALY) averted, putting it on the efficient end even among interventions renowned for cost-effectiveness, like immunization.

In the first six years of our treatment network in Kenya, launched in 2014, we treated more than 5,700 women and trained 11 fistula surgeons. Twelve months after surgery, 96% of women reported no incontinence, and the share able to work rose from 20% before surgery to 86% after.

The barrier isn't cost. It's scale. Building surgical capacity means treating patients and strengthening systems at the same time, not choosing between them.

Read the full article: https://bit.ly/46EtD1D

09/17/2026

Leadership advice by our CEO Pam Lowney was featured in a new Forbes Nonprofit Council Expert Panel article. Alongside guidance from other leaders, Pam shares a startup tactic nonprofits can borrow.

Scroll to 9 for Pam’s poignant advice about choosing impact metrics carefully. https://bit.ly/4haygWb

09/16/2026

Dr. Marvin Mwesigwa has been a fistula repair surgeon in Uganda for more than 10 years.

Women in Uganda live with fistula—and the incontinence it causes—for an average of five years before finding healing. As Dr. Marvin puts it, patients don't just have fistula. Most have lost their babies, endured significant pain, then years of leaking, isolation, and stigma.

That's exactly what our newly launched Fistula Foundation Treatment Network in Uganda is built to fix: connecting care providers, streamlining referrals, and finding women sooner.

Through September 30, gifts—up to a total of $250,000—will be matched dollar for dollar to help our Ugandan partners:
🧡 Provide 20% more surgeries a year
🧡 Train 600+ healthcare workers, including 10 surgeons and 120 nurses
🧡 Expand outreach to identify patients nationwide

Donate today to help more women in Uganda get the care they need. https://bit.ly/3UHEkxP

09/11/2026

Last week, we launched our Fistula Foundation Treatment Network in Uganda. For people like Loy, this progress is personal.

Loy developed fistula after a prolonged, obstructed labor she couldn't get emergency care for. Her husband left her and their three children. Community health workers connected her to our partner Uganda Village Project (UVP) where she received the surgery that changed her life.

That was 14 years ago. Today, Loy is UVP's assistant director, helping other women access the same care that once felt out of reach.

Right now, your gift can be doubled to support our Ugandan partners—training 600+ healthcare workers, performing 20% more surgeries a year, and expanding outreach nationwide. Gifts MATCHED, up to a total of $250,000, through September 30.

Double your impact for women like Loy. https://bit.ly/3UHEkxP

09/05/2026

It’s been one week since Olivia Rodrigo proved how impactful a festival could be!

Her inaugural Daisy Chain Fields festival raised $10 million for organizations supporting women and girls—then Melinda French Gates matched that, bringing the total to $20 million through Pivotal!

The funds will be split evenly across 10 nonprofits, including Baby2Baby, Planned Parenthood, the National Women's Law Center, and Jhpiego.

Gates called Rodrigo "a force," saying the impact of the festival "will last far beyond a single night."

The event is a great reminder of what's possible when a platform and a match come together for a cause.

09/04/2026

We launched our sixth treatment network yesterday—this time in Uganda! 🇺🇬

The model started in Kenya in 2014 and has since proven its effectiveness to scale again and again for other countries. A treatment network unites surgeons, hospitals, outreach partners, and government stakeholders to coordinate care through every step of a woman’s healing journey. With each surgery, our partners build the capacity to reach even more women in need over time.

Since 2011, we’ve supported more than 8,600 surgeries in Uganda. Today, we have seven partners there, operating across 19 hospitals. In 2025, they provided more than 1,150 surgeries, but the need is staggering, with thousands of women needlessly suffering from untreated childbirth injuries.

By 2028, we aim to fund eight partners, perform 1,390 surgeries a year, and train 10 surgeons alongside hundreds of healthcare workers and fistula ambassadors.

The network model showcases the power of partnerships and the importance of local capacity building. After all, healing doesn't happen in Fistula Foundation's hands—it happens in our partners'.

Read more about the launch in our press release! https://bit.ly/4xDdW6x

08/20/2026

Did you know that skinny dippers are funding fistula surgeries? 🌊

International Skinny Dip Day, held every second Saturday of July, has raised more than $61,000 for Fistula Foundation since 2019, funding approximately 96 surgeries for women in Africa and Asia. This year alone, 263 supporters across 32 teams raised more than $18,000—exceeding their goal and funding roughly 28 surgeries.

This tight-knit community has shown us how body positivity and life-changing impact go hand in hand.

Read the full story from Good Good Good:https://bit.ly/4wAp037

08/14/2026

Nurses in the fistula community—registration is now open for our next nursing webinar!

Join expert nurse trainers Ishbel Campbell and Stephen Katumo for practical guidance and best practices on discharge care and instructions.

📅 August 18
🕒 15:00 GMT / 16:00 WAT / 17:00 CAT / 18:00 EAT

Please share with nurses at your hospital—we hope to see you there!
https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/Rf3CUPKrTmivfpJVxWsSJA #/registration

Address

1700 The Alameda, Suite 300
San Jose, CA
95126

Telephone

+14082499596

Website

http://fistulafoundation.org/

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