Uganda: Childbirth Complications High

Uganda is among the three countries in the world with the highest percentage of women suffering from uncontrolled leaking of urine and faeces due to childbirth complications.

The commissioner for clinical services, Dr. Jacinto Amandua, said Uganda annually gets 3,500 new cases of women with the condition called obstetric fistula.

He said figures issued by The Campaign to End Fistula, a global agency, showed that Guatemala and Benin were the other countries with high cases.

The 2006 demographic and health Survey found that one in every 40 women of reproductive age in Uganda has fistula.

Amandua, who on Wednesday was launching research findings on the condition at Imperial Royale Hotel in Kampala, said over two million people in sub-Sahara Africa, Asia and Arabia suffer from fistula.

In Uganda, over 8,462 cases have been recorded since 1990 and 4,877 women have received treatment, he added.

The research was conducted by Women Dignity Project, a Tanzanian-based women’s NGO and another organisation, Engender Health, with support from USAID.

Amandua observed that with only 45 doctors for fistula, Uganda needed to train more.

About 12 hospitals in Uganda are equipped to carry out fistula surgery, but the rate of treatment is slow, which has created a backlog of patients, he added.

“There are few skilled local surgeons and there is delay in completion. It is difficult to interest health workers and policy makers in fistula activities unless support is increased,” Amandua said.

The rural areas, he pointed out, were the worst hit.

Amandua said there was need to improve access to emergency maternal health services, equipping health centres, delay marriage and encourage child spacing.

“Fistula is a human rights issue. The Government must be committed and act to improve social services, especially maternity care.”

Margot Ellis, the USAID mission director, said maternal health care was still limited in Uganda and many women do not know that obstetric fistula can be treated.

Source: The New Vision – 10 April 2008