BUJUMBURA September 6th (ABP) – The Ministry of Public Health and the Fight against AIDS through the National Reproductive Health Program (PNSR), in collaboration with the “Bonne action Umugiraneza” foundation and in partnership with the Fonds des United Nations for the Population (UNFPA), organized on Friday September 2, 2022, in Bujumbura, the awareness-raising workshop for media professionals on the fight against obstetric fistula in Burundi.
In his opening remarks of the said workshop, the director of the PNSR, Dr. Ananie Ndacayisaba, revealed that the disease of obstetric fistulas is preventable, treatable and curable whenever one is treated by doctors specialized in the matter.
He urged all women with symptoms of this disease to no longer isolate themselves but rather to respond massively to the treatment campaign for women suffering from obstetric fistulas, organized from September 5 to October 5, 2022 at the Urumuri Center in Gitega.
Dr. Ndacayisaba indicated that women suffering from obstetric fistulas are sometimes discriminated against and stigmatized or remain hidden because of their unwell situation. He recommended that everyone report to health professionals all cases of obstetric fistulas that are observed in the community in order to treat them.
He said that the Ministry in charge of Public Health uses vertical communication while working in frank collaboration with community health workers, hill chiefs, heads of health centers, heads of health districts and provinces. health facilities, even if it means identifying all the women who show signs of obstetric fistula with a view to achieving the goal of zero obstetric fistula by 2030.
The assistant to the representative of the UNFPA coordinator in Burundi, Mr. Gervais Barampanze, explained that obstetric fistula occurs following a long and difficult delivery in the absence of qualified health personnel and obstetric care. emergency like caesarean section. It is characterized by the permanent loss of urine and/or feces in women or young girls.
According to Mr. Barampanze, obstetric fistula can be accompanied by damage to mental health due to stigma, isolation, family and community rejection.
He also recalled that the international community celebrates May 23 of each year as the World Day for the Elimination of Obstetric Fistula. This year, it was celebrated under the theme “End obstetric fistula now, invest in quality care and empower communities”.
That awareness day is therefore an opportunity to make the general public understand that there are still many women and girls who suffer from this social injustice, underlined the assistant to the UNFPA representative in Burundi, before asking the professionals of the media to do their best in sensitizing the population to the fight against this disease because, he explained, this disease is not a fatality but rather curable.
Given that it is better to prevent than to cure, Mr. Barampanze pointed out that the prevention of obstetric fistulas must benefit from particular attention, in particular access to the use of obstetric care and family planning services to fight against early marriages and pregnancies.
He specified that since 2010 until today, the Urumuri center has already operated on more than 3,000 girls and women, 25% of whom are under 25, stressing that this shows the importance of fighting against marriages and early pregnancies that take place before the age of 18. “Let us all stand together to restore life, smiles, hope and dignity to women suffering from obstetric fistula in Burundi. Childbirth should be a moment of happiness and not of ordeal in the life of a woman,” concluded Mr. Barampanze.
After following a presentation on the disease of obstetric fistulas made by Dr. Yolande Magonyagi, the reproductive health program officer at UNFPA, media professionals asked related questions to better understand in order to properly inform the public. They pledged to use their strength to make that campaign scheduled for September 5 to October 10, 2022 a success.