United Nations Tweeted That No Woman Should Suffer Needlessly From A Preventable Condition Like Fistula

Millions of girls and young women in resource-poor countries are living in shame and isolation, often abandoned by their husbands and excluded by their families and communities. They usually live in abject poverty, shunned or blamed by society and, unable to earn money, many fall deeper into poverty and further despair. The reason for this suffering is that these young girls or women are living with an obstetric fistula (OF) due to complications that arose during childbirth. Their babies are also probably dead, which adds to their depression, pain, and suffering.

An OF is an abnormal opening between a woman’s vagina and bladder and/or rectum, through which her urine and/or feces continually leak. Naturally, these women are embarrassed that they are unable to control their bodily functions, that they are constantly soiled and wet, and that they smell. Their pain and shame may be further complicated by recurring infections, infertility, damage to their vaginal tissue that makes sexual activity impossible, and paralysis of the muscles in their lower legs which may require the use of crutches if any are available.

The United Nations on the occasion of End Fistula Day tweeted that no woman should suffer needlessly from a preventable condition like fistula.
Some Facts:

• An estimated 500,000 women and girls live with it globally.
• 90% of pregnancies in which the woman develops fistula result in stillbirth.
• Up to 95% of vaginal fistula can be closed surgically.
• Obstetric fistula accounts for 8% of maternal deaths.

Skilled care and reconstructive surgery can help treat obstetric fistula. Once they occur, they require surgical repair; they usually cannot heal by themselves. However many women and/or their families, especially those who lacked skilled care during delivery, may not even know that treatment exists for fistula. And these services, when they exist, are often too far away or too expensive.

The United Nations is doing its bit by starting a campaign and asking people to:

• Donate the cost of a fistula repair kit or a midwife kit.
• Contribute toward the cost of training a midwife.
• Donate toward the cost of obstetric fistula surgery.
• Gift a cesarean section.

Over To You:
Over 90% of women can be cured with one operation and can resume an active and fulfilling life, including having further children.