Dr. André Lalonde honoured as champion for women’s health

OTTAWA — Dr. André Lalonde, from the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology and Executive Vice-President of the Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada (SOGC), received the FIGO Distinguished Service Award. It is a prestigious honour for his lifetime of work promoting women’s health in Canada and abroad.

Dr. Lalonde received his award during the opening ceremonies of the International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics’ (FIGO) XIX World Congress of Gynecology and Obstetrics in South Africa, held in October.

“Throughout my career, I’ve committed myself to protecting the lives of women and children in disadvantaged circumstances,” says Dr. Lalonde about his 35 years in medicine. “It’s a great honour, but I’m not done yet. We must continually work to move obstetrics and gynaecology forward, improving the care provided to women and their babies all over the world.”

Dr.Lalonde is presently clinical professor of obstetrics and gynaecology at the University of Ottawa and McGill University, and is also adjunct professor in health administration at the University of Ottawa.

A graduate of the University of Ottawa, Dr Lalonde completed his residency at the Royal Victoria Hospital in Montreal and obtained his Fellowship RCPSC, Fellow American College of Surgery, Fellow American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology. He also earned a master’s degree in health planning and financing from the London School of Economics in 1988. His principal areas of interest and extensive list of lectures and publications include: quality assurance in obstetrics and gynaecology; high-risk pregnancy and ultrasound; acute care management; cost/benefit analysis of health care; family planning in developing countries; and international health. He is the recipient of many awards.

One of his most important projects has been the ALARM International Program, which has led to major advances in many countries by addressing emerging obstetrical care for women and their newborns.

During his career with the SOGC, Dr. Lalonde developed the partnership program that now operates in Burkina Faso, Haiti, Guatemala, and Uganda. More recently, he has led FIGO’s Saving Mothers and Newborns project in ten scarce resource countries: Ukraine, Moldova, Kosovo, Uganda, Kenya, Nigeria, Pakistan, Haiti, Uruguay, and Peru.

Dr. Lalonde is currently the FIGO representative for the Partnership for Mother, Newborn, and Child Health (PMNCH), a WHO-based group that works to bring better health care to women, newborns, and children throughout the world. This week, he and the SOGC are pleased to be hosting the group in Ottawa as they issue a call for engagement to Canadian parliamentarians to do their part to ensure that maternal, newborn and child health is on the G8/G20 agenda in 2010 and to sustain Canadian contributions to international efforts focused on women and mothers, their babies and children.