PRESS CONFERENCE ON UNFPA PROJECT TO TREAT OBSTETRIC FISTULA IN NIGERIA

“Fistula Fortnight”, the largest-ever United Nations-led surgical effort to provide care for women living with obstetric fistula, has opened in Nigeria -- thought to have one of the world’s highest rates of the heartbreaking injury of childbearing -- with nearly 50 women treated by a team of volunteer doctors and fistula experts yesterday.

At the world body’s Headquarters in New York today, Kristen Hetle, Chief of the Media Services Branch of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), said the project launched Monday at four renovated hospitals in northern Nigeria, where the problem is particularly severe.  She urged reporters to follow the “incredible and evolving” story over the next two weeks, as an unprecedented number of women would be treated, and, equally important, a host of Nigerian and international doctors and nurses would be trained in fistula surgery.  The project is set to run through 6 March.

Obstetric fistula is a devastating childbirth injury that damages a woman’s birth canal and leaves her incontinent, Ms. Hetle said.  And while obstructed labours -- often caused by small or malformed pelvis or a badly positioned foetus -- occurred in 5 per cent of women worldwide, it was particularly devastating in Africa, where there were so few hospitals, fewer doctors, and where mothers were often very young.  A high obstetric fistula prevalence rate was one of the key indicators of a country’s inadequate maternal health-care system, she added.

The injury was usually fatal for the baby, and caused severe physical and emotional trauma to the mother, who might also suffer from infections and nerve damage.  “There’s no nice way to talk about it:  they leak urine or faeces, or both”, she said, adding that many of the estimated 400,000 to 800,000 Nigerian women living with fistula were ostracized by their families and communities.  It was estimated that 20,000 cases were added each year. 

The condition was “surrounded by shame” she said, and women were often afraid to admit that they needed treatment.  Asked about the causes of fistula, she cited early pregnancy and poor nutrition as high risk factors.  And if women or girls did not have access to emergency medical care -- most often a Caesarean section -- or if their families didn’t realize the urgency of getting such care in time, a difficult labour could end in the “double tragedy” of fistula.

One of UNFPA’s goals was to raise awareness about the “silent suffering” through media campaigns, particularly in rural communities, to help spread the word that treatment was available.  “Fistula is unpleasant to talk about, but easy to cure”, Ms. Hetle said, noting that the UNFPA expected that 12 Nigerian and four international doctors would be trained in fistula surgery, along with 40 nurses trained in special pre- and post-operative care, and 40 social workers trained to take care of fistula patients.

Joining the UNFPA in the pilot project were federal and State government agencies in Nigeria, Virgin Unite, the Nigerian Red Cross, and Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO).  The four treatment sites, where a team of volunteer doctors from the United States and the United Kingdom were partnering with Nigerian fistula surgeons and experts, were located in KanoState, KatsinaState, KebbiState and SokotoState.  She said that “Fistula Fortnight” was part of UNFPA’s joint global campaign to end fistula, launched two years ago and now active in more than 30 countries ins sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia and the Arab States.

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