Clitoraid surgeon to speak about clitoral restorative surgery for FGM victims

LAS VEGAS, Sept. 5, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- "Female Genital Mutation (FGM), once a horrific, regional tradition that mostly affected the millions of women living in Africa and the Middle East, is now a planetary problem because of immigration," said Clitoraid spokesperson Nadine Gary in a statement released today. "We're pleased to announce that one of Clitoraid's volunteer surgeons will be giving a presentation in Upstate New York on Friday to alert medical professionals to a new restorative surgery that helps FGM victims." 

Dr. Harold Henning, M.D., a gynecological surgeon living near Syracuse, New York, who has been in practice for over 30 years and volunteers his surgical skills for Clitoraid, will speak at 7:30 a.m. on September 6 to other physicians, physician assistants, nurses and other clinicians in the Sulzle Auditorium at the Marley Education Center in Syracuse.

"The emigration of many victims from their native lands means there are now thousands of women in the West suffering FGM effects," Gary said. "The good news is that there's now a treatment for them: a clitoral restorative surgery that works!"

She said doctors from around the world are learning the new technique, pioneered by French urologist and surgeon Dr. Pierre Foldes after he saw FGM victims in Africa.

"Dr. Henning will explain the Foldes procedure on Friday, which will help spread the word until any FGM victim anywhere in the world can have it," she said.

Clitoraid, a non-governmental, nonprofit organization, was founded in 2006 after Rael, spiritual leader of the Raelian Movement, heard of Dr. Foldes's innovative surgery. The organization helps FGM victims obtain the procedure, often providing it free of charge for those who can't afford it.

Dr. Henning is one of the Clitoraid volunteer medical professionals who will travel to Bobodioulasso in Burkina Faso, West Africa for the inauguration of Clitoraid's "Komkasso Hospital" (translation: the Women's Hospital) in March 2014. The facility will provide free clitoral restorative surgery for hundreds of FGM victims who have been on Clitoraid's waiting list for several years.

"They're looking forward to the day they will regain their sense of dignity and their ability to experience physical pleasure after the restoration of what was brutally taken away from them without their consent," Gary said.

Contact:
Donna Newman
[email protected]
305-690-9800

SOURCE Clitoraid