Bangladesh, Uganda Hospitals Train to Repair Fistula

Fistula is a medical condition caused by prolonged labor during childbirth or rape. This condition leaves thousands of women, primarily in Africa and Asia, ill and in pain, isolated, and completely destitute. USAID programs in Uganda and Bangladesh are spending $600,000 to train doctors in fistula repair surgery.

To help these women, USAID programs in Uganda and Bangladesh are spending $600,000 to train doctors in fistula repair surgery. These programs, offered through the Global Health bureau and the Uganda mission, offer counseling to patients, and in some cases help women who have undergone surgery reintegrate into their communities.

Childbirth and pregnancy complications are a leading cause of death and disability among women in developing countries. Obstetric fistula alone affects two million women worldwide, according to the World Health Organization.

Obstetric fistula is an abnormal opening caused by tissue damage between the vagina and the bladder or rectum. A timely Caesarean section can prevent the condition, but in poor countries births are rarely very closely supervised.

Surgery can repair fistula, but few doctors in Asia and Africa are trained to perform such operations, and often woman have to travel long distances to reach hospitals where such work is done.

Women who suffer from fistula leak urine and feces. Some suffer neurological damage that can affect their ability to walk. Many feel shamed or disgraced and are deserted by their husbands and family.

Through the new program, USAID will help train doctors to treat fistula at two hospitals in Bangladesh, and three in Uganda. Two more Ugandan hospitals are expected to join the program as it expands.

Hospitals will link patients with support services such as counseling. The program also will help reintegrate women into society and teach men about the signs of fistula and the importance of safe child-birth. In Uganda the program will also support an awareness campaign targeting men, so that they learn about the importance of safe child-birth. In Bangladesh, the government and the private corporate sector will be asked to pay for patients to travel to hospitals.

Although fistula most often results from difficult labor in childbirth, a growing number of women in war-torn regions such as eastern Congo acquire fistula through rape. The Global Health bureau hopes to extend its new program to a hospital in the Democratic Republic, but not until an assessment of the physical and emotional needs of populations affected by violence is undertaken in eastern Congo.