HFE NZ - Patient Identification Program

Hamlin Fistula Ethiopia has restored the lives of more than 60,000 women. But to achieve Catherine and Reg Hamlin's vision for a fistula-free Ethiopia, we need to find every last woman suffering in silence.

With 80% of Ethiopia's population living outside of cities, thousands of women have limited or no access to medical care. For many women suffering devastating obstetric fistula injuries, they simply do not know that help is out there.

Hamlin’s new Patient Identification Program has identified districts across Ethiopia where women are likely to be living with untreated fistula injuries – remote areas where access to the health care is limited and roads are restricted or non-existent.

Hundreds of Hamlin-trained local health workers and Hamlin staff will travel to these areas to find vulnerable women who don’t know help is available. Some officers will drive for hours, while others will walk to remote villages without road access. They will go door-to-door, person to person, tirelessly searching for women living with existing fistula injuries around Ethiopia. The first phase of the program in February and March this year uncovered 24 women living in the darkness, isolation and hopelessness of fistula and were brought to Hamlin for treatment.

To continue this amazing work and help achieve our goal of eradicating fistula from Ethiopia by 2030, please donate to our Patient Identification Program today