2004 Award Recipient
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2006 Nominees List
Nomination Criteria
Past Award Recipients
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| 2004 Best Practices Award Recipient |
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 The 2004 Award for Best Practices in Global Health is presented to Dr. Catherine Hamlin of the Addis Ababa Fistula Hospital in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
When Dr. Hamlin moved to Ethiopia with her husband Dr. Reginald Hamlin in 1959, they expected to set-up a training program for midwives, unaware that they were to be pioneers in reproductive health. It was not long after their arrival that the Hamlins encountered their first fistula patient. After treating thousands of women suffering from fistula, the Hamlins sought a grant to build a 40-bed hospital to serve the needs of their patients. In 1974, the Addis Ababa Fistula Hospital opened its doors.
Almost 50 years after seeing her first fistula patient, Dr. Hamlin and her staff have treated more than 25,000 women. And in the process, they perfected the surgical intervention to treat fistula, and positioned the Addis Ababa Hospital as the leading center for not only the treatment of women suffering from, but also the training of physicians who treat, fistula.
 A highly preventable condition, fistula is virtually unseen in industrialized countries. Indeed, the procedure for treating fistulas was developed in the 1850s, more than a century before the Hamlins moved to Ethiopia. Yet it is estimated that there are 50,000-100,000 new cases of fistula each year and more than 2 million women who continue to suffer untreated in the developing world.
When the women arrive at the Addis Ababa Fistula Hospital, many stay in hostels on the hospital grounds as they wait for their surgery date. There they are fed, clothed, provided with basic medical care or even extended rehabilitation. Once they have been treated, they and their families are often given clothes and money for the journey back home.
Some of the patients are not able to return to their villages after their surgery because they require frequent medical attention. Many of them remain at the hospital as medical assistants. Others reside at Desta Mender, the Village of Hope, a residential and agrarian village outside of Addis Ababa that was constructed recently to be a permanent home for women who require on-going medical treatment. Here, the women raise produce, weave and knit to provide income for the Fistula Hospital.
For more information about Dr. Catherine Hamlin and the Addis Ababa Fistula Hospital, visit www.fistulahospital.org.
The Best Practices Award is given to celebrate and highlight the efforts of individuals in the field dedicated to improving the health of disadvantaged and disenfranchised populations, and to recognize programs that effectively demonstrate the link between health, poverty and development. Recipients of the award are selected for their ability to not only exhibit measurable results in the field, but also the expertise to share, inspire and extend best practices for improving health.
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