Rwanda made great strides in improving its previously faltering health care system, but family health services still had a long way to go.
Reducing Obstetric Fistula in Rwanda .
Poster | August 15, 2015
The USAID Rwanda Family Health Project, in conjunction with the Ministry of Health of Rwanda, formed an awareness campaign about obstetric fistula, a childbearing injury caused by several days of obstructed labor or poorly performed caesarean section (C-section) deliveries.
Obstetric fistula is a childbearing injury that occurs when a perforation develops between the bladder or the rectum and the vagina. The USAID Rwanda Family Health Project (RFHP), in conjunction with the Ministry of Health of Rwanda, formulated an approach to promote early care-seeking behavior for women who have fistula and to address prevention of the main causes of the condition. As a critical component of prevention, RFHP and the ministry provided clinical mentoring and training sessions in C-section procedures for health-care providers. This poster described the awareness and prevention campaign.
The poster was presented at the 2015 American Public Health Association Annual Conference.