- Title: Food aid to help fistula patients in Zimbabwe recover.
- Date: 11th October 2016
- Summary: CHINHOYI, ZIMBABWE (OCTOBER 10, 2016) (REUTERS) ****WARNING CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** EXTERIOR OF CHINHOYI HOSPITAL GYNAECOLOGY WARD VARIOUS OF PATIENTS IN WARD BLOOD PRESSURE MONITOR VARIOUS OF WOMEN SEEKING TREATMENT FOR OBSTETRIC FISTULA SITTING OUTSIDE HOSPITAL FISTULA PATIENT, TENDAI CHIMUSASA SITTING ON THE GROUND WITH A 'URINARY BUCKET' (SOUNDBITE) (Shona) TENDAI CHIMUSASA, FISTULA PATIENT SAYING: "I buy towels and I insert them in my private parts so that I can avoid messing my clothes especially when I am going to church. From time to time I excuse myself to go to the toilet so I can change the towels. This condition requires a lots of sprays, perfumes, powders and I have to bathe regularly because at any given time I can just pass urine uncontrollably." VARIOUS OF WOMEN OUTSIDE HOSPITAL URINARY BUCKET (SOUNDBITE) (English) WOMEN AND HEALTH ALLIANCE, ZIMBABWE COORDINATOR, PRISCILLA MABHANDE, SAYING: "The women that we have been helping have been a mix of the child bride the 14-year-old who falls pregnant and gives birth either at home or at a medical institution. Multiple births from the older women has also been our clientele range and at present we have also faced challenges with malnourishment basing on pretty much on the prevailing conditions in the rural areas." NURSES APPLAUDING WOMAN LISTENING VARIOUS OF FOODSTUFFS DONATED BY THE WORLD FOOD PROGRAM TO CHINHOYI HOSPITAL (SOUNDBITE) (English) EDDIE ROWE, WFP COUNTRY DIRECTOR SAYING: "To build on the success of the programme, we must ensure that women can access the nutrition they need, not only for a full recovery but also for a healthy and productive life." VARIOUS OF WOMEN OUTSIDE HOSPITAL
- Embargoed: 26th October 2016 14:24
- Keywords: Fistula Obsteric Women Healthcare Food UNFPA WFP Economy Drought
- Location: CHINYOHI, ZIMBABWE
- City: CHINYOHI, ZIMBABWE
- Country: Zimbabwe
- Topics: Health/Medicine
- Reuters ID: LVA00153K8LSN
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: In the last one year, 199 women have undergone life-changing operations to correct obstetric fistula at the Chinhoyi hospital in Zimbabwe and 400 more are waiting their turn as part of a campaign to end the condition.
Obstetric fistula is caused by prolonged labour which forces the unborn baby's head against a woman's pelvis. It can kill the baby and destroys the trapped tissue in the birth canal, the rectum and the urinary tract. The resulting hole causes urinal or faecal incontinence.
At least 8 women and girls die every day in Zimbabwe due to these complications and for every woman who loses their life, another 20-50 suffer severe complications like fistula, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) says.
When Tendai Chimusasa went into labour three years ago with her first pregnancy, her husband took her to her parents' home. She stayed there with labour pains for three days before being rushed to hospital. The baby was stuck in the birth canal and died.
She is among the many women waiting for the operation at Chinhoyi, the first centre in the country to offer the service for free.
"I buy towels and I insert them in my private parts so that I can avoid messing my clothes especially when I am going to church. From time to time I excuse myself to go to the toilet so I can change the towels. This condition requires a lots of sprays, perfumes, powders and I have to bathe regularly because at any given time I can just pass urine uncontrollably," said Tendai.
About 70 percent of women living with fistula never seek treatment because they don't know what is wrong with them.
Fistula was virtually eradicated in developed countries in the 19th century, following the discovery of Cesarean section.
In developing countries the problem is most common because of poverty, lack of education and child marriages.
Nearly a third of girls in Zimbabwe marry before they are 18 and 4 percent before they turn 15, putting them at risk of death or serious injury in childbirth because their bodies are not developed enough to naturally deliver babies.
"The women that we have been helping have been a mix of the child bride the 14-year-old who falls pregnant and gives birth either at home or at a medical institution. Multiple births from the older women has also been our clientele range and at present we have also faced challenges with malnourishment basing on pretty much on the prevailing conditions in the rural areas," said Women And Health Alliance, Zimbabwe coordinator, Priscilla Mabhande.
Zimbabwe is battling its worst drought in a quarter of a century. Over 4 million people, half of Zimbabwe's drought-stricken rural population, need food aid.
Southern Africa has been hard hit over the past year by drought exacerbated by El Nino, a warming of sea surface temperatures in the Pacific Ocean.
After their operations, the women face yet another challenge, lack of food.
The World Food Program is now supporting the campaign to end fistula by feeding the patients to improve their nutrition and speed up recovery.
"To build on the success of the programme, we must ensure that women can access the nutrition they need, not only for a full recovery but also for a healthy and productive life," said Eddie Row, WFP director in Zimbabwe.
Such support is critical. Harare Hospital, one of the biggest referral hospitals in the country, last month temporarily suspended elective surgeries due to a critical shortage of drugs.
Zimbabwe's economy is said to be flatlining while the budget deficit balloons and public servants go months without pay. The financial difficulties have stoked rare protests against 92-year-old President Robert Mugabe. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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