Obstetric Fistula is a Widespread Problem in South Asia, Says UNFPA

UNITED NATIONS, New York – Obstetric fistula, the most devastating of all pregnancy-related disabilities, affects tens of thousands of girls and women in South Asia, said UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, at the first South Asia Conference for the Prevention and Treatment of Fistula, held in Dhaka, Bangladesh this week.

The three-day meeting included fifty health experts who discussed the extent of the problem in the region and measures to address it. The Government of Bangladesh announced that it will establish a National Fistula Centre that will eventually serve as a Centre of Excellence in South Asia to manage fistula cases and train service providers. “Setting up a Fistula Centre with the assistance of UNFPA is a major step towards improving the health status of our women,” said Dr. Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain, Bangladesh Health and Family Welfare Minister.

Obstetric fistula occurs when a woman has a prolonged, obstructed labour and cannot get medical help. The constant pressure of the baby’s head in the birth canal causes a hole to form between the woman’s bladder and vagina and/or rectum. In nearly every case, the baby dies. The mother is left with constant leaking of urine and/or faeces. The social consequences of fistula are disastrous for the sufferer. Women are often rejected by their husbands, shunned by their communities and blamed for their condition.

Reliable data on fistula are scarce, but it is estimated that at least two million women are living with the condition in Africa and South Asia. “The lack of good statistics indicates the nature of the problem,” said Dr. Nafis Sadik, UNFPA Special Ambassador on Fistula. “It affects the poor, the young and the female. Fistula has no priority at all on national health policy agendas. We are here to change that.”

Fistula is both preventable, and treatable through surgery. Experts acknowledged that fistula is associated with poverty, poor medical services and social discrimination against women. They identified methods to prevent fistula, including: 

• Delaying the age at first pregnancy, since women under age 20 are more prone to obstruction during labour and run a greater risk of dying during childbirth;
• Providing access to family planning to help women plan and space births;
• Improving access to pre-natal care for all pregnant women;
• Providing skilled attendance at childbirth to help detect complications and refer women to a hospital when necessary; and,
• Providing affordable and accessible emergency obstetric care to help women get medical help, such as Caesarean sections, when needed.

Experts at the Dhaka meeting addressed the need to provide treatment for all women living with fistula, establish sites to perform surgery and train medical personnel to perform fistula surgery and rehabilitate patients. Experts also outlined the need to analyze the occurrence of fistula in each country in the region and to foster greater South-South cooperation on the issue.

In October, UNFPA sponsored fistula surgeons from Ethiopia and Australia to train 20 local doctors and nurses in Bangladesh. During their stay, visiting doctors conducted 40 operations to cure women.

UNFPA is leading the first-ever Global Campaign to End Fistula. The long-term goal is to make fistula as rare in Africa and Asia as it is in industrialized countries today. The campaign is currently providing support to more than 20 countries. For more information, visit www.unfpa.org/fistula

Contact Information:

Micol Zarb
Tel.: +1 212 297 5042
Email: zarb@unfpa.org