Female Genital Schistosomiasis or FGS is the most neglected sexual and reproductive health issue in sub-Sahara Africa. WHO estimates that as many as 56 million women and girls may be affected. 

FGS mainly affects women and girls who are already marginalised, who lack access to safe clean water, good hygiene and sanitation facilities. If left untreated FGS leads to chronic inflammation, open lesions, and scarring of throughout the female genital tract and results in severe reproductive health complications including infertility, miscarriage and stillbirth. FGS is also associated with an increased vulnerability to HIV and HPV infection.

FGS is treatable and preventable, but it’s fallen through the cracks between the Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTD) and Sexual Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) sectors. 

You can read more about FIG on the Frontline Aids website here.
 

Drawing on input across approximately 100 countries and diverse organizations, Bridges has helped partners align around operational approaches critical to ensure the international community can meet the ambitious 2030 targets.

Read more about IA2030 here.

The aim of the project is to eliminate three NTDs and control two more in the countries of Papua New Guinea and Vanuatu with two rounds of interventions tailored to each country’s specific needs using and all-society approach. 

Read more about NTDs in the Western Pacific here.

To start this effort, Bridges planned and facilitated a workshop that brought together health professionals from many backgrounds and endemic countries to establish training competencies for FGS in collaboration with the World Health Organization. The final list of competencies will be the basis for the development of novel, online training packages targeted at health workers at all levels of the health system in endemic countries. Together with the Geneva Learning Foundation, Bridges will pilot in Ghana and Madagascar this innovative training platform as part of an integrated project FGS Accelerating Progress Together (FAST) package in partnership with Bruyère Research Institute and Allied Sciences (UHAS) Ghana. 

Drawing on models and expertise from other successful funds, Bridges has advanced early implementation of the SHF strategic vision, including developing a suite of Board-approved strategic policies, an application package for countries, and a draft Operations Manual providing key information on the SHF grant-making and grant implementation processes.

Once operating at scale, the SHF aims to invest in national sanitation and hygiene programs, targeting those most left behind, including in health facilities and schools. This brings innovative solutions to the sector, as well as ensures that everyone has the means to maintain their menstrual health and dignity.

Read more about the launch of the SHF here.

The Board-approved Strategic Plan aligns investments by partners at the global, regional, national and sub-national levels towards ending malaria and contributing to achieving universal health coverage, global health security, and reducing poverty and inequalities.

Read more about the RBM Partnership to End Malaria here.

Through this work we have developed a framework and review tool to help evaluate disease program progress and challenges. You can find the case study from the pilot of the GEAR framework on Onchocerciasis here. In addition, the team developed and piloted an integration tool that aims to find win-win scenarios for disease programs with the goal of promoting successful cross-program collaboration. 

The Bridges and GLIDE partnership champions bold innovations in pursuit of accelerating disease elimination. Read more about GLIDE’s mission here. 

Bridges contributed to the organizational operations and partnership developments of TGLF, as well as understanding the learnings from frontline health workers at a time when such information is invaluable to coping with the challenges of a global pandemic. 

Learn more about TGLF’s innovative approach here.

This project advances local, yet novel solutions for communities in Uganda and Ecuador to improve secondary school enrolment, outcomes, and capacity to deliver future improvements across the twinned schools and their communities into the future. 

In Uganda, enrolment in an all-girls partner school increased by about 60% after a resource school helped to add practical programs into the partner school’s academic curriculum. In Ecuador’s first phase, the resource school worked with a local university to efficiently tailor a diploma program in math and language training to partner school context. Teachers from the resource and 3 partner schools jointly completed diplomas. Bridges worked with the local teams in both countries to adapt support to the emerging context and needs of the COVID period while still advancing project objectives.

Watch a 4-minute video developed by the collaborators in Uganda here.