12,000 women develop vvf yearly in Nigeria —Survey

THERE is an urgent need for more advocacy to be
carried out with a view to getting more commitment
from every stakeholder in the society, to the plight of
Vesico Vaginal Fistula (VVF) patients, even as the
National Demographic Health Survey revealed that
no fewer 12,000 women developed VVF every year in
Nigeria.
Speaking at a stakeholders' meeting in Bauchi at the
weekend to review and develop VVF jingles for
Bauchi, Kano and Katsina states, a VVF surgeon, Dr
Ahmed Yola, stated that, the condition, which occurs
as a result of an abnormal hole between the bladder
and vagina of a sufferer, characterised by continuous
and uncontrollable leakage of urine, is common
where ignorance and poverty are prevalent.
He noted that patients were mostly young girls of
poor social economic background and women, who
were experiencing child birth for the first time,
adding that the condition also affected older and
even elderly women, as well as uneducated women
living in the society.
According to Dr Yola, most of VVF patients often
came from remote villages with deplorable roads,
poor or even outright absence of health care facilities
and numerous barriers to seeking health care.
He disclosed that 90 per cent of VVF condition was
caused by prolonged, unattended and obstructed
labour, adding that harmful traditional practices,
such as female genital mutilation (FGM), among
others, had also been found to have caused the
condition.
Contrary to the widely-held belief, that the condition
is prevalent in the Northern part of the country, the
surgeon stated that, VVF was prevalent both in the
Northern and southern parts of Nigeria.