Accra, May 22, GNA – Ghana will on Saturday observe the International Day to End Obstetric Fistula with a call for urgent commitment to invest financially to ending Obstetric Fistula in Ghana.
The day would be under the global theme: “Her Health is a Right: Invest to End Fistula and Childbirth Injuries,” with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) providing technical support.
The theme emphasises that every woman and girl has the fundamental right to sexual and reproductive health and that obstetric represented a violation of this right.
Speaking to the Ghana News Agency in an interview, Dr Gabriel Yao-Kumah Ganyaglo, a Urogynaecologist, and Fistula Surgeon at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital said it was time for Ghana to walk the talk and take the bull by the horn by owning the fight against ending Obstetric Fistula.
“It is time for the country to have not just budget lines but make monies available to holistically address the problem.”
Dr Ganyaglo who is also the Co-Chair of the National Obstetric Fistula Taskforce said there was the need to have a strong political will to end fistula, adding, countries life Ethiopia and Bangladesh have made tremendous progress, and Ghana can also do it if there is a strong political will and investments made available”.
Obstetric fistula remains a preventable condition linked to prolonged obstructed labour without timely medical intervention. It affects thousands of women in Ghana annually, often resulting in incontinence, stigma, and social exclusion.
Medically, it is described as a hole in the birth canal that occurs due to prolonged labor without medical intervention and other factors during childbirth.
Dr Ganyaglo noted that funding from UNPFA was for fistula repairs “but we cannot have fistula repairs without mobilsation which includes case identification and after repairs, these women will have to be integrated into society equipped by viable skills.”
He explained that it cost, about 1200 dollars to find and bring one patient for treatment which include case detection, repairs and reintegration and there was the need to invest to cover more women living with fistula.
Dr Ganyaglo explained that fistula could be ended if stigmatisation was targeted by demystifying fistula and called on religious leaders and traditional authorities to join the fight, adding, “stigma make them lose their livelihood and they need to be rehabilitated and reintegrated into society.”
The commemoration led Ministry of Health through the Ghana Health Service, the National Obstetric Fistula Taskforce Team with technical support from the UNFPA will have march possessions and public education accelerating investment in prevention, surgical repair, and reintegration services for survivors of obstetric fistula and other childbirth injuries.
According to UNFPA Ghana, about 1,300 new cases occur in Ghana every year. A 2015 UNFPA-sponsored assessment estimated between 711 and 1,352 in new cases annually, or 1.6 to 1.8 cases per 1,000 deliveries.
Despite this, only a fraction receives treatment. UNFPA and partners repair about 100 to 200 cases per year, leaving a backlog. More than 12,000 Ghanaian women are currently living with unrepaired fistula due to limited surgical capacity.
Dr Ganyaglo expressed the worry that Ghana currently had only 12 active fistula surgeons, which he said was not adequate considering the number of women living with fistula and the need for them to have these cases repaired.
He called on obstetricians and gynaecologists to help mobilse cases for surgeons to repair.
Dr Chris Opoku Fofie, Deputy Director, Family Health of the Ghana Health Service told the GNA that about 13 per cent of deliveries occurred at home and interventions were being put in place to ensure that women had access to health facilities, skilled health personnel among others to have safe deliveries and primary health care.
He commended UNFPA for their continuous technical support in the areas of fistula repairs and called on other partners to contribute to the Partners to End Fistula in Ghana initiative to facilitate case detection, repairs and reintegration of women who have been had their fistulas repaired.
The International Day to End Obstetric Fistula is observed every year on May 23. It is an international holiday for gathering support and spreading awareness about obstetric fistula, a childbirth-related injury that majorly affects women in poor economic regions.
GNA
Edited by Linda Asante Agyei