Lee Clark, MD

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  Good afternoon Dr. Shaw, I am Dr. Lee Clark from the University of the  Philippines and I am doing this interview on behalf of China OBGYN.net.  We know you have a very hectic schedule but we are very fortunate to  have you come around. Just briefly, I'll do an introduction. This is Dr  Dorothy Shaw, from the British Columbia Women's Hospital, Vancouver,  Canada. She is a prolific author of several respected publications, and  is a strong advocate of women’s and children's health. She is the  incoming president of the International Federation of Gynecology and  Obstetrics. Thank you very much for your kind indulgence for this short  interview.

Doctor, we would just like to ask you about this  very important position that you are going to have with the FIGO. What  will be the platform of your term, if you can give us a little bit of a  hint as regards to your advocacy and focus?

 Thank you.  That is a very interesting question, and it is not a short answer. I  think that FIGO is, well at the moment 110 member societies, after this  general assembly we hope there will be 113 member societies. Our mandate  must be to ensure that our member societies are adequately supported to  be involved in their own countries with policy and service that  supports women's health and women's rights in that country. So that will  be, if you like, one of the main mandates of my time as president.

In terms of the some of the areas that are of  concern I think these are probably well known already. FIGO is currently  very involved in terms of strategies in 12 countries to address  maternal mortality in ways that are driven by our member countries, in  partnership with the Ministries of Health and supported by FIGO, with  grants from FIGO and with grants from other agencies, as well as  mentorship from other societies within FIGO. Those will be a major focus  of the presidency. They are very important and we need to evaluate them  and ensure that they are on-track and producing the kind of results  that we are all hoping for.

In addition, the fistula collaboration with  UNFPA and others will continue and become increasingly more active over  the next three years. We have already been involved in supporting  fistula repair, I think there were 200 fistula repairs done earlier this  year. We anticipate that there will be more opportunity to train  physicians who can remain in the countries where they are needed, and in  addition, to use the opportunity to teach not only the skills to repair  fistula, which is not just the surgical skills it is a complex issue,  but also to focus on the prevention.

The prevention of fistula is very comparable to  the prevention of maternal mortality. Maternal mortality has been, and  will continue to remain, a very significant focus. We will be looking at  the various contributing components to maternal mortality, and asking  which areas we can move on that will make a difference that other  partners are able to work with us, to really address improving and  saving women's lives as quickly as possible. Some of these solutions are  not difficult to implement and we really have a very serious  responsibility to the women of the world to stop them from dying,  preventively.

 If I may ask  another question doctor. One of the biggest problems, particularly in  Asia, is the inaccessibility of safe abortion clinics. There are many  issues surrounding the issue of abortion, in particular the legal,  religious and cultural barriers that surround this very important issue  in women's health. Can you also give us a little bit about FIGO's  strategies as regards to this, in particular because this is an issue  for which government support perhaps in these countries need to be  actively pursued.

 I think with  that topic, as well as with other topics in FIGO, our responsibility is  to present the facts, to present the evidence. The evidence is very  clear on unsafe abortion, and on many other topics relating to maternal  mortality and to other areas of gynecology and obstetrics where women's  health is seriously jeopardized. If we look at the facts on unsafe  abortion it is very clear that poor women are the ones who are most  significantly impacted. Women who have access to resources, financial  resources, because that is really what it is about, if you have access  to financial resources, you do not die from unsafe abortion anywhere in  the world, regardless of whether it is legal in that country. Really,  that is clear evidence. We know what happens when there are restrictive  laws in place in terms of abortion. It does not reduce the abortion  rate, it merely results in women dying.

 Thank you very  much doctor. We have a very tedious task to pursue in the next year or  so, but there will be some exciting successes in the coming years  because of your active advocacy. We hope that you succeed in every  endeavor that you do and will be able to push through the cooperation  amongst the different societies in particular countries involved in the  professional societies in particular. And of course, gathering the  efforts from different social organizations and groups around the  countries of the world.

Good luck to your presidency in the International Federation. We hope to be able to catch up with you at some time.

 I would like  to thank all of you as our FIGO fellows for participating during this  meeting. You are the future. We look forward to your contributions to  improving the lives of women around the world. Thank you so much.

Articles

XVIII FIGO World Congress of Gynecology and ObstetricsNovember 5-10, 2006 - Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Interview with incoming FIGO President, Dr. Dorothy Shaw

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Author | Lee Clark, MD

Articles

Interview with incoming FIGO President, Dr. Dorothy Shaw

Interview with incoming FIGO President, Dr. Dorothy Shaw Video