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Eliminating Obstetric Fistula

Source: The Dinah Project

There are some causes of illness and misery that demand advanced diagnostics, expensive medication and even cutting edge technology. There are many other tragic conditions that need information, and care that exists, if only people have the means to reach it and know that it can help them.

Natalie Imbruglia, spokesperson for UNFPA and Virgin-Unite to End Fistula

This is the case of obstetric fistula, a deplorable trauma brought on by mishandled birth, which leaves its sufferers incapacitated for the rest of their lives. What is fistula?

The conditions that lead to fistulae (or fistulas) can happen to any woman, anywhere, because they are an outcome of a problematic birth process. A famous historical case involved Princess Charlotte of England. As the only eligible heir to the throne, her birth was supposed to be a cause for celebration, but did not progress healthily (obstructed labour). The princess never had to suffer the burden of fistula because she died 50 hours into her labour, after giving birth to a stillborn child.

Today, fistula is still common in parts of Africa and Asia, where access to health care is sorely limited. It results from childbirth taking place without adequate medical or midwifery facilities, where experts cannot intervene and prevent trauma happening. Sufferers who survive the ordeal of obstructed labour, tend to be left untreated. Further, because they remain incontinent they are left believing that they are dirty and unacceptable instead of being informed that their condition is caused by a perinatal complication and it is completely curable.

Ethiopia has recently received special attention in regard to the issue of Obstetric Fistula, because their burning need for help to treat their estimated 9,000 new cases each year and tens of thousands of chronic cases, has begun getting attention from international supporters including Oprah and a fund set up by Virgin.

One particular hospital, set up by Australian physicians Catherine and Reginald Hamlin in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in the 1960’s, is doing a great deal to heal women with fistula in Ethiopia. The procedure costs about $450 but in a country where some woman cannot access medical care when giving birth, it is difficult to bring these women to the caretakers, even when money is raised to cover the procedure. This is what The Fistula Foundation is battling to do.

The real answer, however, lies not in curing all cases, but in providing the medical standards and education that will prevent the kind of births that result in fistulae.

The United Nations Population Fund started a global initiative in 2003 named the Campaign to End Fistula. The monies raised to cover fistula care in 35 countries in sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia and the Mideast has been wholly insufficient. With local governments having neither the capability or the commitment to treat and prevent cases, the care is often left to NGOs.

We may be too far away to give help or support, but we can make a small contribution by donating to The Fistula Foundation and by spreading the word.

One thought on “Eliminating Obstetric Fistula

  1. The Nazi TPLF government is busy in procuring expensive military hardware with hard currency to silence Ethiopian opposition groups and neighbouring countries like Somalia. Similarly, it invests millions in security that specifically targets its own citizens. At the same time countless life is lost due to minor illnesses like diarrhoea, malaria, typhoid fever and several others. The health status of Ethiopians is deteriorating, particularly in the regions and rural areas. We also know the impact of malnutrition on health, especially in young children. Dergue had tried to establish basic community health services at village level by training traditional birth attendants and village health workers who play a vital role in community health. Weyane has systematically ruined the health system and caused the mass departure of thousands of health professionals, including highly qualified and much needed doctors. However, this wholesale destruction of the public health system does not affect the Tigrai region. If you happen to visit post graduate training posts in medical schools, 7 out of 10 recruits at any time are Tigrayans. The same is true on scholarship offers – the rule “ hulum neger le Tigre ina le Tigrai” applies.

    Fistula is not only treatable, but also a preventable condition with proper maternal health care, provision of basic obstetric and referral services, family planning and health education. Unfortunately the imposed TPLF junta group has no real interest in the health or well being of Ethiopians. Its primary goal is the disintegration of the Ethiopian society as a whole.

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