KARACHI: While International Day to End Obstetric Fistula is being celebrated across the world on Saturday, up to 5,000 women in Pakistan needlessly suffer from the medical condition every year, said doctors on Friday.

“Obstetric fistula is preventable and, in most cases, can be surgically repaired. However, an estimated 3,000 to 5,000 new cases surfaced each year in Pakistan,” said Dr Sajjad Ahmed Siddiqui, programme officer, Pakistan National Forum on Women’s Health (PNFWH) while addressing a press conference at the Karachi Press Club.

The press conference was organised by the PNFWH, Pakistan Medical Association, United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Pakistan (SOGP).

It was announced that a campaign would be launched to get the entire society aware of how easily fistula that devastated lives of millions of women for no reason could be treated.

The medical experts said one of the most serious injuries of childbirth; obstetric fistula was a hole in the birth canal caused by prolonged, obstructed labour due to the lack of timely and adequate medical care.

In most cases, they said, the baby was either stillborn or died within the first week of life, and the woman suffered a devastating injury — a fistula — that rendered her incontinent.

“Many women and girls with fistula are shunned by their families and communities, deepening their poverty and magnifying their suffering,” said Dr Mirza Ali Azhar, PMA secretary-general. It was said the vulnerable women were at the heart of UNFPA efforts to ensure that every pregnancy was wanted, every child birth was safe, and every young person’s potential was fulfilled.

Dr Qazi Wasiq of Karachi PMA said victims of obstetric fistula were usually among the hardest to reach, and often illiterate and with limited access to health services including maternal and reproductive health care.

The persistence of the problem reflected broader health inequities and health care system weaknesses, as well as wider challenges facing women and girls, such as gender and socio-economic inequality, lack of schooling, child marriage and early child bearing — all of which impeded the well-being of women and girls and their opportunities.

Over the past eight years, they added, the UNFPA had directly supported more than 5,000 women and girls to receive surgical treatment for fistula in the country through their seven regional centres. The campaign was based on the three key strategies of prevention, treatment and social reintegration of the patients.

Dr Siddiqui said his organisation was implementing that project across the country by providing surgical treatment, training for doctors and mid-level healthcare providers and raising awareness of the social issues related to obstetric fistula.

Last year the UN general assembly had designated May 23 as the official International Day to End Obstetric Fistula.

Published in Dawn, May 23rd, 2015

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