2 to 4% of women in Bunyoro have fistula

By Flavia Ajok

Hoima: Approximately 2–4 percent of women in the Bunyoro subregion are suffering from fistulas.

This was disclosed by Dr. Ibrahim Bwaga, the Hoima regional referral hospital obstetrician and gynecologist, during an interview with this publication.

Dr. Bwaga said the fistula camp that started on the 23^rd will end today, the 27^th of this month, at Hoima Regional Referral Hospital. It’s supported with funding from the Ministry of Health Uganda and UNFP, and they are targeting 40 to 50 patients from the Bunyoro subregion.

He revealed that a woman with a fistula suffers a lot emotionally, physically, financially, and socially, since most people don’t want to associate with fistula patients.

Dr. Bwaga stressed that fistula patients are always stigmatized, adding that fistula is mostly caused by complications during birth, especially obstructed labor, which he says shouldn’t happen in the 21^st century.

The health expert explained that other causes of fistula are moving long distances to health facilities and failing to attend antenatal care in time, early pregnancies in young girls when the bones are still narrow, and most women cannot support themselves financially so rely on men, thus reaching hospitals late.

He says some of these cases surge due to the failure to have functioning theaters, which he says is the biggest challenge in Bunyoro among drug stockouts.

Dr. Bwaga says they are not organizing the camp because it is an obvious sign that these are patients that were poorly managed.

He urged all women to seek medical attention, especially when pregnant, and parents should educate their girl children to be empowered, not send them into early marriages, adding that we can’t avoid some of the challenges completely but can reduce them.

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