Obstetric fistula

Charles-Henry Rochat

FMH Specialist in Operative Urology
Visiting Associate Professor, Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology and Women's Health of Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University, New-York
Associate Professor of Public Health at CIESPAC, Brazzaville
Codirector of the Executive Committee of the GFMER
GFMER Director of "Obstetric Fistula Program"
Member of Fistula Committee of FIGO (Fédération Internationale de Gynécologie et d'Obstétrique)
Member of OFWG (International Obstetric Fistula Working Group)

Charles-Henry Rochat is a urologist surgeon sharing his activities between new technologies as robotic surgery and humanitarian medicine. Pioneer in laparoscopic surgery and author of the first laparoscopic prostatectomies in Switzerland since March 1999, he was then led to the creation of the Multi Disciplinary Center of Laparoscopic Robotic Surgery opened in 2003 at the Clinic Generale Beaulieu in Geneva. He has a wide experience in robotic prostatectomy and he is co-coordinator of the European multicenter study on the results of this technique. He is the author of articles and book chapters in this area.

His commitment to the humanitarian field has been marked by numerous missions in war surgery before he choosed an education program more focused on continuity. Since 1993 he developed a treatment, training and prevention program, in the field of obstetric fistula. This model is now recognized internationally.

In Benin, residents of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology and Women's Health work with Dr Charles-Henry Rochat, a Swiss urologist of the Geneva Foundation for Medical Education and Research at St Jean de Dieu Hospital in Tanguieta Benin. Dr Rochat began working in Benin in 1993 and has established an obstetric fistula program that serves women from Benin, Togo, Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso, and other neighboring countries. Worldwide, at least two million women and girls live with obstetric fistulae and 50,000 to 100,000 develop one yearly. Often a direct result of obstructed labor, obstetric fistulae are now rare in countries where women are educated and emergency obstetric care is accessible. Therefore, traveling to Benin offers a rare and unique experience. Residents and fellows will operate with a world-renowned surgeon, Dr Rochat, and his team and learn the basic surgical techniques of obstetric fistulae repair.

In recognition of his humanitarian activities the Sovereign Military Order of Malta awarded him of the Cross of Commander pro Merito Melitensi.