WUNRN
Prevention & Treatment of the
Trauma of Obstetric Fistula - Campaign
OBSTETRIC FISTULA - VIDEO - UNFPA
________________________________________________________________________
Direct Link to 20-Page UN Report:
UN News Centre
11 October 2010 –
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is calling for at least $750 million to treat
some 3.5 million cases of obstetric fistula by 2015 in an effort to cure the
debilitating injury caused by obstruction in giving birth.
“Obstetric fistula is one of the most devastating consequences of neglect during childbirth and a stark example of health inequity in the world,” he says in a report to the General Assembly released today, in which he calls for intensified investment in cost-effective interventions, including surgery, to address the problem that afflicts women with the leakage of bodily wastes.
“Although
the condition has been eliminated in the developed world, obstetric fistula
continues to afflict the most impoverished women and girls, most of whom live
in rural and remote areas of the developing world.”
Reconstructive
surgery can repair fistula injury and most women can be treated and, with
appropriate psychosocial care, reintegrated into their communities, but few
health-care facilities are able to provide high-quality fistula treatment owing
to the limited number of health-care professionals with the appropriate skills.
Apart
from surgery, Mr. Ban stresses prevention, noting that the condition is almost
entirely preventable when there is universal and equitable access to quality
maternal and reproductive health services. The same interventions that prevent
maternal mortality can also prevent maternal morbidity.
He
notes that three interventions have the most important and immediate impact on
maternal death and disability: family planning; attendance during childbirth by
skilled health personnel, such as a midwife; and emergency obstetric care, in
particular Caesarean sections. Early marriage is also an issue with adolescent
girls particularly at risk for obstetric fistula at a much higher rate than
women in their twenties.
The
UN World Health Organization (WHO)
estimates that each year some 50,000 to 100,000 women worldwide are affected by
obstetric fistula, a figure that Mr. Ban says may be an underestimate, as it is
based on facility data, and a significant number of impoverished women from
rural and remote areas in developing countries who experience complicated
labour are likely never to reach a hospital.
UN
Population Fund (UNFPA)
Executive Director Thoraya Ahmed Obaid welcomed the report. “Every year
millions of women suffer from pregnancy and birth-related complications, as
well as injuries,” she said in a statement. “Through working together we can
ensure that fistula is something of the past.”
UNFPA
leads the global Campaign to End Fistula with a wide range of partners. Since
2003 the agency provided support to 47 countries, resulting in fistula
treatment and care for some 16,000 women and the training of thousands of
health-care personnel in prevention and management.
“The
funds required to provide quality fistula repair reflect the magnitude of the
problem,” Campaign coordinator Gillian Slinger said. “If we consider the
backlog of fistula cases and the treatment costs of approximately $300 per
repair, we can conclude that the figures mentioned by the report are a
conservative estimate.”