…we cannot achieve our goals without each other. Partnership is not an option, it is a must
Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus,
Director-General of the World Health Organization and former Vice-Chair of PMNCH
The Catherine Hamlin Fistula Foundation recognizes that the enormous task of eradicating obstetric fistula forever cannot be achieved in isolation. With the support of allied organizations, we are better placed to achieve this vitally important aim.
Consequently, Catherine Hamlin Fistula Foundation is a proud member of the Partnership for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health (PMNCH). This partnership of more than 1,000 organizations operating in 192 countries seeks to provide a platform for members to share resources and coordinate activities in order to better achieve the common goal of improving maternal, newborn, child and adolescent health, appreciating the unmistakable truth that more can be accomplished collectively than alone.
PMNCH, which was launched in 2005, aspires for a ‘world in which every woman, child and adolescent in every setting realizes their rights to physical and mental health and wellbeing, has social and economic opportunities, and is able to participate fully in shaping prosperous and sustainable societies’. In striving for the eradication of obstetric fistula, Hamlin Fistula Ethiopia fully supports this vision.
PMNCH’s primary efforts are centered around the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In particular:
1: reduce global maternal mortality to 70 or fewer deaths per 100,000 live births.
2: reduce newborn mortality in every country to 12 or fewer deaths per 1,000 live births and under-five mortality in every country to 25 or fewer deaths per 1,000 live births.
7: achieve universal access to sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights and ensure at least 75% of demand for family planning is satisfied with modern contraceptives.
PMNCH recently held its 24th board meeting in Nairobi on the sidelines of the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD25). The board meeting was hosted by the Government of Kenya and overseen by Former Prime Minister of New Zealand, Helen Clark, Board Chair of PMNCH.
PMNCH has also recently published a case study on essential packages of health services in Ethiopia. A few key takeaways from the report are:
Accordingly, it is evident that Hamlin Fistula Ethiopia is performing an extraordinarily important service to the women of Ethiopia in never turning away a fistula patient and in providing all care at no charge to these vulnerable women. This is only possible thanks to generous donors around the world.
Author: Natalie Stals, medical student interning at Catherine Hamlin Fistula Foundation