Some 9,000 Affected By Fistula Each Year
By Tedla Desta

September 7, 2005 – (The Daily Monitor) Around 9,000 mothers are affected by fistula each year in Ethiopia, said Dr. Tewodros G/Michael, Deputy Director of Engender Health Ethiopia yesterday.

A meeting under the theme "Traumatic gynaecologic Fistula" A consequence of sexual violence in conflict settings," is being held here in Addis.

Traumatic Gynaecologic Fistula is an injury that occurs due to the direct traumatic tearing of the vaginal tissues as a result of violent sexual assault, including rape, and the forced insertion of objects (such as weapons, sticks, etc) into a woman's or child's vagina, a woman or girl who sustains this injury will be unable to control her solid and liquid excretion. Speaking of the necessity of the meeting being held in Addis Abeba, Mary Nell Wenger, Senior Director of Maternity Care Program of the ACQUIRE Project/Engender Health said that it is the first-ever gathering of expert individuals and organizations from 11 African nations, most of which are addressing Traumatic Gynaecologic Fistula.

This meeting comes at a time when evidence suggests that rape is increasingly used as a weapon of war in armed conflicts in Africa. The meeting also aims to promote a better understanding of the problem and its magnitude, and to collaboratively develop ways to address the issue.

Though around 9,000 patients of fistula are recorded each year, the only fistula hospital, Addis Abeba Fistula Hospital provides free fistula repair surgery to approximately 1,200 women every year. "By the end of the three day, we hope to have very concrete recommendations put forward. One of them will be the formation of a network," Wegner Added.

From: http://allafrica.com/stories/200509070421.html