Expanded program increases access to care, strengthens local health systems across more than 40 hospitals nationwide
SAN JOSE, Calif., July 14, 2026 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Fistula Foundation today announced impressive, countrywide results one year into an expanded effort to reach women living with obstetric fistula—a debilitating childbirth injury—in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), one of the countries hardest hit by this devastating yet treatable condition.
Since May 2025, Fistula Foundation and its network of local partners have:
- Provided 5,549 fistula surgeries across 41 hospital sites in the DRC, delivering 65% more surgeries than initially anticipated in the first year, and on pace to meet an expanded two-year goal of 11,000+ repair surgeries
- Trained 128 healthcare workers, including eight fistula surgeons and 120 nurses, expanding the country's long-term capacity to deliver treatment
- Restored an estimated 45,801 years of healthy life, representing a total lifetime economic value of more than $38.7 million USD for women and their families
- Conducted 114 community outreach events, training 2,300 community members and reaching 127,414 people with messages about fistula
- Coordinated care across 23 of the DRC's 26 provinces in partnership with local health authorities and the Ministry of Health
Obstetric fistula is a childbirth injury that leaves women incontinent, isolated, and often ostracized by their communities. It is treatable with a surgical procedure that costs, on average, $624 USD. Yet across Africa and Asia, up to one million women—including an estimated 42,000 in the DRC—remain without access to care, and the DRC carries a disproportionate share of that burden given many regions' limited access to emergency obstetric care.
"Behind every one of these surgeries is a woman who spent years suffering needlessly—isolated, often abandoned—when an affordable procedure was all that stood between her and a full, healthy life," said Pam Lowney, CEO of Fistula Foundation. "Local surgeons and health workers across the DRC have the commitment and cultural context to deliver that care—and with the right training and resources, they are reaching women in every corner of the country. Our job, and the job of funders who share this vision, is to make sure they have the resources to reach every woman who needs them."
Support from Bloomberg Philanthropies has significantly scaled the work of Fistula Foundation, which has operated in the DRC since 2009, building a trusted network of local surgeons, hospitals, and community partners.
"We partnered with Fistula Foundation because of its proven model, trusted local partners, and a shared commitment to expanding care," said Dr. Neena Prasad, who leads the maternal health program at Bloomberg Philanthropies. "The first‑year results are encouraging and reinforce our confidence that this work can expand to reach every woman in the DRC who needs affordable, high‑quality care."
Amid Promising Progress, the Need Remains
Fistula Foundation operates across more than 35 countries in Africa and Asia, but the DRC represents one of the most urgent concentrations of unmet need anywhere in the world. Globally, up to one million women live with untreated obstetric fistula. Each year, tens of thousands of new cases develop—the majority in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, where access to skilled birth attendants and emergency obstetric care remains critically limited.
Results from the DRC demonstrate how committed investment in proven, locally-led solutions can expand healthcare access at scale. To end the needless suffering caused by fistula globally, Fistula Foundation calls on: philanthropists, governments and institutional funders to invest in scaling fistula treatment, training, and community outreach in the DRC and beyond; governments and multilateral organizations to integrate fistula prevention and treatment into national and global maternal health strategies; and advocates and media to amplify the stories of women who have reclaimed their lives, and those who are still waiting.
Obstetric fistula is not an intractable problem. It is a solvable crisis that the global community has the tools and knowledge to end, if we choose to act.
About Fistula Foundation
Fistula Foundation is the global leader in treating obstetric fistula and related childbirth injuries, having supported more than 130,000 surgeries across 35+ countries in Africa and Asia since 2009. Working through a network of 100+ trusted local surgeons and hospitals in areas of high unmet need, the organization delivers more fistula surgeries than any other in the world, and aims to leave no woman behind. Learn more at fistulafoundation.org.
Media Contact
Angela Baldwin, Baldwin PR, 1 6502703082, [email protected], Baldwin PR
SOURCE Fistula Foundation
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