A PROGRAM OF THE GFMER FOUNDATION

Fistula Group is a program of the Geneva Foundation for Medical Training and Research (GFMER). This non-profit organization created in 2002 has the mission to promote and develop training and research programs in the health field.

The GFMER Foundation is recognised as a public utility and is supported by the Department of Social Affairs of the City of Geneva and other Swiss and international institutions. It also works in close collaboration with the World Health Organisation (WHO) and enjoys privileged partnerships with governmental and non-governmental organisations and universities for the exchange of information and expertise at the international level.

A few figures

The Foundation and its partners are conducting a series of distance and online training courses on maternal and newborn health research. Since 2015 it has been running an online course on obstetric fistula in partnership with Oxford and Harvard Universities. By the end of April 2019, more than 1,000 health professionals from 98 countries had validated the diploma.

Last year, the GFMER, in collaboration with the Oxford Maternal and Perinatal Health Institute (OMPHI), translated into Portuguese the computerized training module on feeding and monitoring the growth of premature babies.

In 2018, the Foundation and its partners launched for the ninth consecutive year a series of distance education/online courses on sexual and reproductive health research: a total of 219 health professionals from 59 countries attended the training programme.

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online participants

women operated on annually

The commitments of the GFMER Foundation are mainly focused on the sexual and reproductive health of women in developing countries. © Nicolas Cleuet