While most women living with fistula are either unaware that treatment is available or cannot access or afford it, in the vast majority of cases, fistula is treatable through intra vaginal surgery. Reconstructive surgery can repair the injury, with success rates as high as 90 per cent for uncomplicated cases.
After treatment, a fistula patient can return to a normal life with full control of her bodily functions.
Doctor Pashtoon Kohestani, has been working in Malalai Maternity Hospital for twenty years. Since 2009 she is leading the Malalai Maternity Hospital Fistula Centre. For the past three years Ms. Kohestani has assisted more than 400 women suffering of obstetric fistula.
Statement on the International Day to End Obstetric Fistula by
Dr. Babatunde Osotimehin, United Nations Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director of UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund
New York, 23 May 2014
On the 27th of May the Ministry of Public Health, Malalai Maternity Hospital and UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, celebrated the International Day to End Obstetric Fistula. Participants from the health sector joined the event to raise awareness about a condition that two million women and girls suffer in developing countries.
No. of pages : 72
Publication date : 18/02/2016
Author : UNFPA WCARO
This annual report captures the actions and results of the UNFPA West and Central Africa Regional Office and the 23 Country Offices in the region. It clarifies how we work together to ensure every pregnancy is wanted, every childbirth is safe and every young person’s potential is fulfilled. Our mission is to build the foundations for change by enabling girls and mothers to make choices. We want them to be able to choose when to marry, choose when to give birth and choose how many children they want.
Kabul, 3 June 2015 - On the celebration of the International Day to End Obstetric Fistula, the Ministry of Public Health, the Afghan Society of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, announced the expansion of obstetric fistula care and treatment to regional hospitals in Afghanistan.
"I got married when I was 21 years old and I became pregnant soon after. Everything went well until my labour pain started", she recalls. Arifa lives in a remote village called Tejab in Almar district where access to healthcare is a luxury for many people. In these types of villages pregnant women often get help from a daya, a woman who helps to deliver a baby. A daya does not have any medical background. The only knowledge she possesses is of experience.
Publication date : 28 December 2011
