- MSF says it also assisted 12,519 with deliveries and 1,626 with deliveries through caesarean section
By: Ahmed Rufa’i, Dutse
The international medical organisation, Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders (MSF) has called on governments in Nigeria and private individuals to do more towards adopting prevention measures against Vesicovaginal Fistula (VVF) cases especially among women in rural areas.
The Medical Sans Frontiers (MSF) Vesicovaginal Fistula Jahun Centre Field Coordinator, Mr. Jean Clément Ishimwe, who spoke at the discharging and empowering of 235 VVF patients ceremony at the Jahun General Hospital, in Jahun Local Government Area (LGA), JIgawa State.
Mr Jean Clement appealed to all health stakeholders for concerted efforts in helping affected to reintegrate into their communities and to prevent devastating injuries from occurring by expanding access to quality maternal care.
According to him, presently 100 women who suffered from obstetric fistula and successfully completed their surgical treatment are currently preparing to leave the MSF’s programme and return home, explaining that “from January to November 2022, 235 women suffering from fistula were successfully treated with surgical intervention.”
According to the Field Officer, “282 women had their fistula repaired in 2021. During the same period, MSF team in Jahun provided 33,917 women with antenatal care, assisted in 12,519 deliveries and another 1,626 deliveries through caesarean section.It is estimated that 2 million women and girls live with obstetric fistula worldwide, most always due to complications which arose during childbirth.”
The Field Officer maintained that “the ceremony is also an opportunity to promote the socio-economic integration of these women who have often been pushed aside. We give them spaghetti-making machine and flour to enable them to start a small business at home as a self-reliance activity.”
He noted that around 50 women who successfully completed the fistula treatment will start a rehabilitation and skill acquisition training in January 2023, a programme that is supported by the Fistula Foundation and the State Ministry of Women Affairs.”
He added: “When MSF started its activities in Jahun, the organisation has been providing surgical repairs, physiotherapy, occupational therapy, and psycho-social support to women suffering from fistula. Obstetric fistulas are generally caused during childbirth by prolonged, obstructed labour.
“That’s why MSF is also supporting quality obstetric and maternal care in Jahun in order to contribute to preventing fistula and other complications from happening.”
Mr Ishimwe emphasis that this condition often leads to shame, isolation and stigma, with husbands, families and communities excluding the women who suffer from it.
“Most of these women usually live in abject poverty, shunned, or blamed by society which lead them to fall deeper into poverty and further despair. Many of the women who develop fistula lose their baby to stillbirth, which adds to their depression, pain, and suffering,” he stated
