Dr Catherine Hamlin, Ac "national Living Treasure" Visits Canberra

Dr Catherine Hamlin, AC "National Living Treasure" visits Canberra

Dr Catherine Hamlin will be in Canberra this week to promote Lighting a Candle ~ a new documentary (supported by the Australian Government, AusAID) that illuminates her enduring passion and commitment to bringing an end to the obstetric fistula epidemic in Ethiopia and other developing countries.

The premiere screening is being held at the National Film and Sound Archive in Canberra on Wednesday 21 October at 6.30pm. (For press tickets please see contact details below.)

Dr Hamlin, who is now 85, still operates one morning a week. She is celebrating her Golden Jubilee this year (50 years of living and working in Ethiopia). The film reflects on the half a century that she has spent dedicated to healing thousands of girls and women. It documents, for the first time, the breadth and scope of her Hospital's treatment and preventative work that is making an important contribution to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals.

Dr Hamlin and her late husband, Dr Reg Hamlin OBE, were pioneers of obstetric fistula surgery and well ahead of their time in regard to women's health in Africa. In 1974 they founded the Addis Ababa Fistula Hospital. Dr Hamlin's work has restored hope and dignity to over 35,000 girls and women in Ethiopia.

Dr Hamlin's inspiring holistic approach has become world renowned and acts as a model for other developing countries with a high incidence of women who suffer from obstetric fistula. The Australian Government recognises this, and through AusAID has been a major contributor to the work of the Addis Ababa Hamlin Fistula Hospital in Ethiopia for the treatment of obstetric fistula and more recently midwifery training for 25 years, providing more than $7m since 1984.

Quote from Dr Hamlin:
"Increasing public awareness in the developed world has led to growing support of our work. I hope that the new documentary Lighting a Candle, which has been produced with the generous assistance of AusAID, will continue to increase public awareness of the plight of these women and our Hospital's work within the broader context of improving maternal health in the developing world".

Dr Hamlin receives "Alternative Nobel"
This week it was announced that The Right Livelihood Award Jury in Stockholm has bestowed a 2009 Right Livelihood Award on Dr Catherine Hamlin, AC.

This award, which is widely recognised as the world's premiere award for personal courage and social transformation, will help Dr Hamlin raise greater international awareness about maternal deaths and birth injuries in developing countries. Dr Hamlin is the first Australian woman to receive this award.
www.rightlivelihood.org

Dr Hamlin is a world renowned advocate for improving access for pregnant women to health services in developing countries. Next year, the new Hamlin College of Midwives, which Dr Hamlin has established will start deploying well trained midwives into rural areas of Ethiopia. This will provide pregnant women in remote regions with much greater access to trained medical help during pregnancy and labour, thereby reducing the incidence of obstetric fistula amongst rural Ethiopian women.

As a result of prolonged and obstructed labour, the woman's bladder or vagina is torn so that a hole or fistula is caused in the bladder, and sometimes in the rectum. Usually the baby is stillborn. When fistulae occur, the woman is unable to control the flow of urine or excreta. Because of the objectionable smell associated with the condition these women are mostly rejected by husband and family. They become social outcasts and have a deep sense of rejection and "shame".

If you would like to interview Dr Hamlin during her visit to Canberra please contact Alexandra Cordukes on (m) 04222 91734 or [email protected]

website: www.fistulatrust.org

SOURCE: Hamlin Fistula International