A charity set up by Ann Gloag marks 10 years of service this month, after helping more than 120,000 women.
The entrepreneur from Perth set up Freedom From Fistula a decade ago, to help people injured in childcare and to provide access to maternal healthcare in Africa.
Since the charity was created, more than 500 doctors and nurses have been trained in Sierra Leone, Malawi, Kenya and Madagascar to help deliver babies and prevent obstetric fistula, an injury leaving women permanently incontinent after childbirth.
An estimated two million women suffer worldwide, caused by long and difficult labour, without access to a C-section.
In Africa, sufferers are often outcast from families and communities so Freedom from Fitsula also provides emotional support.
Ann, 75, funds all running cost through her charity, the Gloag Foundation.
She said: “I set up Freedom From Fistula because it is a scandal that in the 21st century women and girls across large parts of the world do not have access to quality maternal healthcare.
“If this was a man’s problem, it would have been solved by now.
“Women and girls suffering with fistula are the lowest of the low in their societies, often living isolated lives full of shame and despair, through no fault of their own, but the good news is fistula is both preventable and curable.
“It no longer happens in developed countries because women in prolonged, obstructed labour are lucky to have access to C-sections and skilled medical personnel.
“We need to make that privilege available for all women and girls throughout the world.”
The charity provides maternity units, fistula surgeries, rehabilitation and education for patients, as well as training facilities for doctors, nurses and midwives.
Margaret Moyo, Freedom From Fistula Malawi director, said: “We are indebted to Ann Gloag for her compassion and commitment to improving the lives of women and girls suffering from fistula.
“We now treat more than 400 women and girls every year and I know the projects in Sierra Leone, Madagascar and Kenya are equally successful.
“Freedom From Fistula has made a tangible and positive difference to Malawi and Ann deserves huge credit for improving the lives of thousands of women and girls.”
