Fistula surgeon recognized with UN Population Award
Dr. Marchesini, originally from Italy, learned to treat obstetric fistula in 1973, while training at a hospital in Uganda. He knew immediately that he would devote his life to the cause.
The following year, 1974, I went to Mozambique and I began to operate on every woman appearing in my hospital,” Dr. Marchesini said. Those who arrived for treatment were “suffering and rejected women,” he explained.
His work took him all over the country, to hospitals in Quelimane, Mocuba, Tete and Songo. For years, he was the only doctor in Mozambique treating the condition.