Research
Research and the development and trialing of new clinical techniques are other main objectives of The Hamlin Fistula Welfare and Research Trust. This is something towards which we are now committing more of our efforts and resources.
With the large number of cases that our Addis Ababa centre manages and the increasing number in our mini-hospitals, we have the potential to build on the accumulated experience of the last 30 years. We now have the capacity to manage up to 2,800 cases and by 2009 this should increase to around 3,500 annually.
Our database now contains more than 17,000 documented cases. This is a great resource for research, which is being developed with the assistance of Bergen University.
We have done research in the following areas:
Hospital based, mainly unpublished
- Antibiotic use
- Amenorrhea and Infertility
- Use of fat graft
- Kap study on FGC
- Neurological injuries associated with fistula
- Use of urethral plugs and arising complications
- Stress urinary incontinence treatment outcomes
- Urinary drainage (closed system versus open drainage)
- Prevalence of urinary tract infections amongst fistula patients
- The association between mobility and health
- Factors predisposing to obstetric fistula
Community Based National level studies on:
- “Obstetric Fistula in Rural Ethiopia” - Prevalence of obstetric fistula, and social and health problems encountered by treated and untreated fistula patients.
- Community based operational research with USAID and Intra-health
- Evaluation of nationwide radio-programme for prevention broadcasts.
Please click here for a listing of our published papers.
|
Bahar Dar