Uniting the World’s Brightest Minds: The 2025 IBEC Conference at CIVIL Hospital
Imagine a room filled with 51 of the world’s top pediatric urology specialists, all gathered with a single mission—to transform the lives of children born with bladder exstrophy. That’s exactly what happened at CIVIL Hospital, as it proudly hosted the 2025 International Bladder Exstrophy Collaborative (IBEC) Conference!
This was our 5th trip to Uganda, and while every year leaves us feeling blessed, accomplished, exhausted, fulfilled, and yes, even stressed, this year was different.
Building Community: Empowering Families Around the World
We are committed to creating a self-sustaining bladder exstrophy community in Sub-Saharan Africa. On our upcoming Family Education Day, over 50 families from Uganda, South Sudan, and Burundi will come together with our Global Care team for a day focused on education, empowerment, and connection.
The A-Be-C Uganda initiative continues to grow with each passing year. This October, A-BE-C was represented by a dedicated team of surgeons, nurses, a social worker, and patient advocates.
The first time you meet Dr. Boateng Nimako, you can tell he’s a special individual. It’s not only his calming voice or infectious smile, but also the way he fiercely advocates for his patients.
After two years of delays due to Covid, and then another delay due to an Ebola outbreak in Uganda, the US team was finally able to hold our second workshop at Uro Care in Kampala. Our committed team treated, connected with and supported 23 families from all over Uganda.
A-BE-C is so proud to be a part of the annual Bladder Exstrophy workshop which celebrated its 15th year in January!!! After two days of extensive discussion and five days of complex surgeries, I can’t thank Civil Hospital enough for their ongoing commitment to our beautiful children and families living with bladder exstrophy.
Resilience: Overcoming Obstacles to Impact Lives Around the Globe
Anna Artigas, daughter of Executive Director Pamela Artigas, is traveling with A-BE-C for the 2023 International Exstrophy Workshop in Uganda as part of a service project to provide support to teens with exstrophy.
