Africa-Press – Uganda. The Deposit Protection Fund of Uganda (DPF) has installed a 20,000-litre capacity water reservoir at the women’s hospital in Soroti District. The hospital treats women with obstetric fistula and child birth-related injuries.
The executive director for The Association for Rehabilitation and Re-orientation of Women for Development (Terewode) Women’s Hospital, Ms Alice Emasu, said the facility has been grappling with water shortage, It was commissioned by then Speaker of Parliament Rebecca Kadaga in 2019.
She said that although the facility relied on piped water from the National Water and Sewerage Corporation (NWSC), there would be a shortage whenever the supply was cut off for various reasons.
“At least we can now store water in the tank reservoir for use during days of scarcity to manage the fistula patients,” Ms Emasu said.
She said about 100 patients are treated at the hospital every month.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) describes obstetric as an abnormal opening between a woman’s genital tract and her urinary tract or rectum. WHO says between 50,000 to 100,000 women worldwide are affected by obstetric fistula every year while more than two million young women live with untreated obstetric fistula in Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. Obstetric fistula is preventable; it can largely be avoided by: delaying the age of the first pregnancy and timely access to obstetric care, among others.
The chief executive officer of DPF, Ms Julia Clare Olima Oyet, said the intervention to install the reservoir worth Shs37.8 million commissioned last Friday comes on the heels of the commemoration of the United Nations population fund (UNFPA) campaign to end obstetric fistula by 2030.
Ms Olima added: “As an agency of government, the board found it befitting to contribute towards the improvement of livelihoods of the vulnerable and underprivileged with emphasis on women, especially mothers, children, and youth as an addition to their primary mandate,” she said.
Ms Olima commended Terrewode for its efforts in supporting mothers with birth-related injuries.
She added: “In many health facilities, patients and attendants are still faced with the burden of accessing sufficient, reliable, safe, and clean water and we are aware that this situation is compounded for women with obstetric fistula conditions which require sufficient and reliable water to enhance their hygiene.”
The LCV chairperson Soroti, Mr Simon Peter Ekuu, has challenged stakeholders to support the hospital with other alternative sources of cheap water to reduce on the facility’s reliance on NWSC and also its utility bills.
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