Teach to Reach 9 is a global event bringing together over 17,000 health professionals to meet, network and learn from each other.

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Alongside the main focus on immunization, this ninth edition also shined a spotlight on often neglected health issues disproportionately affecting women in low-resource settings, such as Female Genital Schistosomiasis (FGS).

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FGS is a neglected tropical disease caused by parasitic worms that affects over 56 million women and girls, mainly in sub-Saharan Africa.

Introduction 2023 to female genital schistosomiasis (with Dr Julie Jacobson) [ Ссылка ]

Many health workers are unaware of its existence, leading to frequent misdiagnosis and immense suffering in silence.

Teach to Reach 9 featured powerful testimonials from health professionals who attended groundbreaking 2021 and 2023 workshops on FGS organized by Bridges to Development and the Geneva Learning Foundation, with support from Canada Grand Challenges and The End Fund.

Brigitte Meugang works in a government health facility in Cameroon.

As a learner at the 2023 Workshop on Female Genital Schistosomiasis (FGS), she was suddenly confronted with FGS within her own family.

Here’s her story.

“My female relative had been bleeding for a year without any resolution.

She had consulted many gynecologists and medical doctors without success.”

“She was scheduled to have a hysterectomy, thinking she had cancer.”

“When in fact it was Female Genital Schistosomiasis (FGS).”

“I figured it out a few days after attending the FGS workshop offered by The Geneva Learning Foundation with Bridges to Development and The End Fund.”

“We had done cervical smears, ultrasounds, and they found no infections, but she was bleeding constantly, bleeding to such an extent that the only solution proposed by the gynecologist was to remove her uterus.”

“After the FGS training, I called her and told her about the training and that it was possible she was suffering from FGS.”

“I then did everything I could to find praziquantel urgently.”

“I called her back and gave her praziquantel tablets.”

“When we calculated the dose according to her weight, with 40 mg of praziquantel per kilo, she had to take six tablets.”

“She took three tablets first and, four hours later, she took the other three.”

“After taking these tablets, her bleeding stopped, and that continues to this day.”

“Thank you for everything.”

“I will never forget this training.”

“This testimonial motivates me to train everyone and tell anyone who will listen.”

“I put my heart and soul into making everyone aware, including healthcare professionals, so that there would be no more women at risk of dying or losing their uterus, as could have been the case with my own relative.”

Rukaiya Mumuni, an immunization worker from Ghana, also recounted how the FGS training enabled her to help a colleague suffering in silence.

“After the training, I realized one of the nurses came up to me: ‘Rukaya, I have been having this issue for a long time. Most of the symptoms you mentioned about FGS, I have been experiencing it.’”

Treatment with Praziquantel resolved her symptoms.

Dr. Julie Jacobson, a longtime FGS advocate, emphasized the power of spreading awareness and knowledge to overcome this neglected disease.

“The challenge has been that this never gets reported and so it doesn’t officially exist. And here we hear about all the silent suffering that’s gone on...I’m inspired by you and hope to continue to do this in any way that I can help serve this population.”

These testimonies highlight how Teach to Reach is enabling frontline health workers to transform knowledge into action to tackle neglected diseases and improve women’s health.

As The Geneva Learning Foundation’s Charlotte Mbuh summarized, “This platform is a very important platform for information and experience sharing that not only allows for the acquisition of knowledge, but also for the awakening of consciences.”

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