BUJUMBURA May 22nd (ABP) – The Ministry of Public Health and the Fight against AIDS, through its National Program for Reproductive Health (PNSR), organized on Friday May 19, 2023, an awareness workshop for journalists on the prevention and management of obstetric fistulas.
In his opening speech, the director of the PNSR, Dr. Ananie Ndacayisaba, indicated that the disease of obstetric fistula is a perforation which puts the genital tract in communication with the bladder and/or the rectum. He added that this disease exists in Burundi and must be fought with all the energy, specifying that once this disease is confirmed, the patient is sent to the URUMURI center in Gitega, for treatment.
According to Dr. Ndacayisaba, the finding is that the healing rate is very satisfactory. He specified that during the past year, among the women received at the Urumuri center, 93% were cured. However, he calls on journalists to sensitize any woman showing signs of that disease to join the health facility for screening in order to determine the number of cases that will be confirmed. Women suffering from this disease should not be stigmatized because it is a treatable and curable disease, he stressed.
He took the opportunity to call on women who give birth to adhere to contraception immediately after childbirth, or even before leaving the maternity ward, to limit pregnancies which occur two or three months after childbirth and which jeopardize the life of the mother and her child.
In his presentation, Dr. Théophile Bigayi specified that there are three types of obstetric fistulas, including urogenital fistula, rectovaginal fistula and mixed fistulas. Among the contributing factors, he cited among others the small size of the woman of 1.50 m, the narrowing of the pelvis or deformed pelvis and the bulky fetuses compared to the pelvis of the woman, to name but a few.
Regarding the main signs suggestive of obstetric fistulas, he cited the continuous flow of urine and/or feces. Dr Bigayi also pointed to the risk of experiencing a slow and premature death from infections and kidney failure.
In its perspective, Dr. Ndacayisaba said, the PNSR improves the management of obstetric fistulas and builds the capacity of providers for good quality obstetric and neonatal care. The provinces most affected by this disease are the provinces of Kirundo, Muramvya, Makamba and Cibitoke, the director of the PNSR has revealed.
He took the opportunity to call on everyone, whether in the private, public, religious or civil sector, to be touched by the messages sensitizing women to resort to health care facilities.
Note that screening for that disease will begin on June 12 of this year in all the provinces of the country.