Close to 2,000
women are living with Vesico-Vaginal Fistula (VVF) disease in Bauchi
State, the Medical Officer of the Ningi General Hospital, Mansur Dada,
said in Bauchi at the weekend.
Mr.Dada, who
briefed journalists who visited the newly established VVF repairs and
treatment centre at the hospital, said while some of the patients had
made efforts to seek medication, others stayed at home because they
could not access treatment. VVF is a disease caused by obstructed
labour, which leads to continuous leakage of urine because of an
abnormal hole in a woman’s reproductive organ. This makes urine to pass
through a sufferer’s sexual organ rather than the urinary channel.
The medical officer
said the current campaign against the disease, which was organised by
Fistula Care Project of USAID in collaboration with the Bauchi state
government, would run for five days in the hospital to raise awareness
on the availability of the services. “Presently the treatment have
started and we have 18 patients on admission waiting to be operated
upon. The repairs and treatment of patients would continue after the
period of the campaign,” he said. “The repairs of patients is not
restricted to women in Bauchi state alone, it is open to women across
the country.”
Mr Dada said two
wards and a theatre had been earmarked for admission and treatment of
patients. “The assessment, admission and surgery services are free for
all patients,” he said. “Plans are underway to open skills acquisition
centres for the patients to empower them to be engaged in ventures that
will generate income for them.”
Some of the
patients who spoke to newsmen expressed appreciation to government for
coming to their aid. They called on those with the disease to come to
the hospital to receive free medical attention.
Fight for education
The Chief Imam of
Bauchi Central Mosque, Bala Baban-Inna called on husbands to empathise
with their wives who have VVF and stop divorcing them. “It is wrong and
un-Islamic for a husband to abandon or divorce his wife because of any
health problem or infection. When a man is getting married to a woman,
he makes a promise publicly to provide her basic needs, so why should
he leave her because of Viesco Vaginal Fistula. It is wrong,” Mr.
Baban-Inna said.
“We the Imams are
doing our best to improve the health standard of our people, which is
why we are making efforts to discourage early child marriage. We advise
parents to allow their female children go to the secondary school
before they give them out in marriage. This will help reduce some of
these problems associated with early marriage.” The cleric said
religious and traditional rulers in the state have been playing great
roles in ensuring that people accept changes, whether in reproductive
health, polio, VVF and other healthcare problems. “We have been going
to the internet to get ourselves informed on current happenings around
the world, especially on health matters so that we can adequately and
rightly inform our people on how to live,” he said.
