Center for Health Market Innovations (CHMI)

Programs

Fistula Hotline

last updated May 25, 2012

Overview

Implementing organization: 
Aberdeen Women's Centre
Implementation Partner(s): 
Gloag Foundation, USAID, UNFPA, Airtel
Legal Status: 
Public-private partnership
Year Launched: 
2011
Stage: 
Pilot/startup stage
Income Level of Target Population: 
All income levels

Funding

Primary Source of Funding: 
Donor

Technology

Technology Used: 
Phones › Voice
Technology Purpose: 
Facilitating Patient Communications

Scale

Personnel Employed: 
<10
Number of Clients Served: 
165 patients referred
Number of Facilities Operated/Networked: 
1 clinic
Other Measures of Scale: 
8,000 people having called in November 2011 but only 0.1 percent relating to fistula
Summary: 

Fistula Hotline run by the Aberdeen Women's Centre is a toll-free phone number that allows women from remote areas to call specialized nurses at the center about their symptoms, who then determine if the women are eligible for fistula treatment.

Program goals/rationale: 

Fistula, also known as vesico-vaginal fistula, usually caused by prolonged obstructed labor is a hole in the birth canal that leaves women with chronic incontinence, and often a stillborn baby.It is estimated that one in eight pregnant women develops fistula in Sierra Leone, mostly stemming from from poor prenatal care and high teenage pregnancy rates.

Key program components: 

The Aberdeen Women's Centre provides the only comprehensive fistula repair service in the Sierra Leone. The Fistula Hotline is a toll-free phone number that allows women from remote areas to call specialized nurses at the centre about their symptoms, who then determine if the women are eligible for fistula treatment. Shortly after the hotline opened in October, radio messages were broadcast in the local Krio language and in English, describing fistula and telling anyone who thinks they are affected to call 555.

About 165 patients were referred to the centre through the hotline. So far, 119 patients have been repaired with a success rate of 85 per cent.

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