Dr Amina Bello, Niger state governor’s wife, on Wednesday said no fewer than 206 women in the state have benefitted from Vesico Vaginal Fistula (VVF) free treatment by her NGO, RAISE foundation, in three years.
The first lady made the disclosure while speaking with newsmen at the Kontagora General Hospital during the latest round of free surgery for 50 women with VVF.
She said: “we do a VVF camp every quarter, where we get women who have the problem and bring them here and do the surgery for free.
“So far we have done a total of 206 from the time we first started and we are hoping to add another 50 this time around.
“We don’t do this on our own as we are in collaboration with Sani Bello foundation and Mainstream Foundation,” she added
According to the governor’s wife, she along with other fistula surgeons from Kano and Katsina were involved in the surgery and rehabilitation process of patients which averagely costs N150, 000.
She advised women to seek the services of skilled birth attendants during child labour to eradicate the disease.
“It can be eradicated if every a woman who is pregnant and who is in labour has skilled people attending to her.
“Most of the people who have VVF had it because of obstructed or prolonged labour and in such a situation only skilled persons will know what to do,” she said.
Mrs Bello decried the increasing level of stigmatization of women suffering from VVF, adding that it was an impediment for lots of sufferers to come out to seek treatment.
“One of the biggest challenges we are having is that we are not able to access a lot of these women suffering from the ailment.
“Alot of them are hiding because of the stigma; so getting them to come out is really tough for us,” she said.
VVF is a hole that develops between the vagina and the bladder, which results in uncontrollable leaking of urine through the vagina.
