Fistula Foundation targets 50 VVF patients for free repairs in Sokoto, says official
Fistula Foundation Nigeria (FFN), in collaboration with the Sokoto state government and the UN Population Fund (UNFPA), have commenced free repair surgery of 50 Vesico Vaginal Fistula (VVF) patients at the Goronyo Fistula Treatment Centre in Sokoto state.
The FFN Director, Mr Musa Isa, told newsmen in Goronyo, on Wednesday, that the exercise, which was being supported by Global Affairs Canada, had been scheduled for between March 22 to March 26.
VVF is an abnormal opening between the bladder and the vagina that results in continuous and unremitting urinary incontinence, and is among the most distressing complications of gynecologic and obstetric procedures.
The common causes of VVF have been traced to obstructed labor, early marriage, poverty and women’s limited control over the use of family resources.
The condition can cause a lot of discomfort and, if left untreated, it may cause serious bacterial infection, which may result in sepsis, a dangerous condition that can lead to low blood pressure, organ damage or even death.
Isa said three doctors and six nurses had been deployed to handle cases at the Goronyo treatment centre, while patients with complex cases that needed more specialized services, have been referred to the Maryam Abacha Fistula Treatment centre in Sokoto metropolis.
The FFN director explained that 37 women, living with fistula, have so far been screened from various parts of Nigeria and more were expected to show up.
Isa thanked the government and people of Canada for making it possible to have VVF treatment in the country adding that the free VVF surgery is ongoing at a similar centre in Bauchi state.
He urged women and girls living with the condition, from any part of the country, to register at the centre for the surgery.
Speaking to newsmen while monitoring the exercise, the Sokoto State VVF Coordinator at the Ministry of Health, Malama Zainab Muhammad-Yabo, commended the donors for their support.
Muhammad-Yabo said the state had taken delivery of the supporting consumables and other kits, from the supporting organizations, noting that the government complemented by ensuring adequate planning and logistics, to ensure a hitch-free exercise.
She called for more partnerships between state governments and NGOs, to assist in identifying more patients so that they could also benefit, stressing that more effort was needed in view of the increasing number of cases.
The coordinator expressed satisfaction at the attitudes of the workers and patients to the exercise and called on the hospital community to support, so as to ensure successful conduct of the exercise.
Some of the patients interviewed at the Goronyo treatment center told newsmen that they contracted VVF after child birth in the hospital; six traced their cases to home delivery, while one patient said she got the condition after surgery for a different illness.
