Africa-Press – Ghana. As Ghana joins the global community on Friday May 23rd to mark the annual International Day to End Obstetric Fistula (IDEOF), stakeholders are reminded of the urgent need to address the devastating condition affecting thousands of women globally, particularly in rural and underserved areas.
BACKGROUND
Obstetric Fistula (OF) is a tragic childbirth injury caused by prolonged obstructed labour, leading to an abnormal hole between the birth canal and bladder or rectum, or both.
Although it is a preventable and treatable condition, the lack of access to quality maternal healthcare services such as emergency surgery, has left many women and girls to suffer in silence with trauma; facing social stigma, shame, isolation, discrimination and worsening poverty due to job loss.
The condition leaves sufferers with chronic incontinence and in most cases a stillborn baby, while the smell of leaking urine, faeces or both is constant and humiliating, often driving patients’ spouses, parents, friends and neighbours away.
If left untreated, fistula can lead to chronic medical problems, including ulcerations, kidney diseases, nerve damage in the legs leading to paralysis and even death because of other severe complications.
The United Nations estimates that at least two million women live with fistula in developing countries, with 50,000 to 100,000 new cases occurring annually, which represents only those seeking treatment.
In Ghana approximately 1,352 women per 751,205 deliveries develop fistula annually, with an incidence rate of 1.8 per 1,000 deliveries.
However, the 2015 Ghana Health Service (GHS 2015) Assessment of obstetric fistula, revealed that only 40 per cent of cases were repaired, while between 711 and 1,352 new cases emerge each year.
INTERVENTION
Recognising the devastating impact of OF, the United Nations designated May 23rd annually as the International Day to End Obstetric Fistula, to raise awareness, promote prevention, increase access to surgical repairs, and support survivor integration.
This global observance, therefore, serves as a critical reminder of the urgent need for action to prevent and treat OF worldwide, particularly in Ghana.
The global theme: “Breaking the Cycle: Preventing Fistula Worldwide,” emphasises the importance of preventing OF from occurring in the first place, highlighting the need to address the systematic issues that lead to its occurrence.
Ghana will, however, ride on the motto: “Her Health, Her Right: Shaping a Future Without Fistula in Ghana”.
PARTNERSHIP
Dr Wilfred Ochan, the Country Representative, United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), UNs Sexual and Reproductive Health Agency, says Ghana’s 2025 IDEOF celebration and activities focuses on raising awareness, securing additional resources, and strengthening multi-sector collaboration to end obstetric fistula.
He said through a strategic dual-location approach, strong survivor advocacy, corporate engagement, and digital innovation (social media), the initiative will contribute to the long-term elimination of OF in Ghana.
Dr Ochan likened OF, to a litmus test on maternal health, citing the devastating nature of the condition and its negative impact on women and girls, and said marking the IDEOF annually is to sustain the advocacy that OF, is preventable and treatable, saying, “No woman should suffer unduly or die giving birth”.
He acknowledged the government’s support for expanding access to improved maternal healthcare through ante-natal care services, which reports that nine in 10 pregnant women now reports for proper care.
In the framework of the Partnership to End Obstetric Fistula in Ghana (PEFIG), UNFPA continues to source for domestic funding from its partners and stakeholders to support fistula repairs, saying within a year, over $500,000, in addition to indirect assistance has been mobilised for various activities, including infrastructure development in different areas of the country and for surgical repairs, he said.
“It costs about 700 US dollars to repair one fistula case, which includes the transport and upkeep of the patient for at least the two weeks care,” he said.
Dr Ochan commended existing local and international organisations, including financial institutions (Access, and Fidelity Bank) already lending their support in diverse ways, but PEFIG seeks to expand its membership to mobilise more resources for increased and sustained awareness creation, prevention, treatment of all OF cases and ensure effective reintegration of survivors into their communities.
He hinted that the Ghana College of Physicians and Surgeons has indicated their commitment to help mobilise fresh data on Ghana’s current OF status, to aid her strategy towards elimination, and appealed to all Ghanaians to get involved during the celebrations to encourage sufferers to seek help and treatment.
ACTIVITIES
Dr Gabriel Ganyaglo, a renowned Consultant Urogynaecologist, Fistula Surgeon, and Obstetrician at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, told the Ghana News Agency /MCAN (Media and Communication Advocacy Network), that building on the success of past campaigns and the commitment of national and international partners, the year’s celebration will focus on aggressive community engagement, survivor empowerment, and enhanced partnerships.
These efforts aim not only to reduce the prevalence of obstetric fistula but also restore dignity and hope to affected persons.
STRATEGIES
Dr Ganyaglo, who also Chairs the National Fistula Task Force, says “Away from the usual conference room launch annually, this year’s commemoration is strategically designed to target the hidden cases using a different approach to reach out for both existing and new cases for effective repairs”.
He said the Commission of Surgeons involving the fistula Task Force Team, has accepted to perform free fistula repairs for patients between May 23rd and 31st during the IDEOF celebrations, at five designated health facility sites at the Upper West Regional Hospital, Mercy Women’s Catholic Hospital at Mankessim, and the Komfo Anokye, Korle-Bu and Ho Teaching Hospitals respectively.
They are each expected to perform an average of 10 to 15 fistula repairs per site, totalling between 50 to 75 within the period.
He said patient mobilisation for the repairs had been ongoing for a month now, using MCAN’s continuous advocacy and local radio stations in target regions, to inform and educate patients and their communities, while telephone conferences are used by the various health facilities to facilitate communication and coordination of patients for the surgeries.
Furthermore, in collaboration with some Telcos, including AT, Mobile Hotlines have been setup for the facility sites for effective monitoring, coordination and communication with other patients, while reaching out to communities within their catchment areas across the regions through bulk SMS messages and educative flyers on key social media handles.
The strategy seeks to foster community engagement using innovative outreach strategies ranging from market engagements to community durbars to reach both urban and rural populations, ensuring that even those in high-burden areas are actively included.
Dr Ganyaglo reiterated that these were to increase awareness on actions needed to repair OF in Ghana, to effect a resolution in Parliament by Health Caucus in Parliament on the need for eradication, boost PEFIG membership by engaging additional stakeholders such as private sector telecom organisations, financial institutions, and other potential partners, with a target of seven additional corporate members in 2025.
The strategy is seeking to gather financial and technical support targeting to raise about GHC 200,000 to facilitate cost-effective fistula repair, strengthen reintegration programmes for survivors, and enhance prevention efforts.
ACTIVITIES:
A corporate breakfast forum would be launched to provide a unique platform for the fistula surgical team to dialogue, share experiences, and stories with corporate leaders, to galvanise the support of the corporate sector for fistula management.
ROLE OF PARTNERS:
There will also be intense media awareness and educational campaigns in collaboration with MCAN, to break stigma and mobilise stakeholder support for PEFIG, and MCAN will cover the multi-site repairs and present relevant stories in the media, while community durbars, market outreaches, radio and television programmes on OF would also be organised.
PEFIG Partners in banking (Fidelity and Access) could crowdsource funds for the whole of the Month of May for fistula, and the World Food Programme will provide nutritional food support for OF survivors across the regions.
POST-LAUNCH ACTIVITIES
It will include collaborating with TV3’s Ghana Most Beautiful contest to have one of the upcoming beauty queens, to adopt fistula awareness and advocacy as their project, championing the cause to amplify visibility and drive support for affected women.
EXPECTED RESULTS
It includes increased community knowledge about OF prevention and treatment options, successful onboarding of additional PEFIG members from diverse actors, strengthening the network’s capacity to mobilise, giving greater visibility for fistula survivors through documented reintegration journeys and direct engagement with community and policy leaders, to ensure inclusivity and targeted impact.
Source: Ghana News Agency
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