Bangladesh Obstetric Fistula UN Medical Training – 4 Asian Countries Participate

08 April 2008

Bangladesh Obstetric Fistula UN Medical Training –
4 Asian Countries Participate

Sylhet, Bangladesh — Twenty-nine women suffering from
obstetric fistula underwent repair surgery here last week during a three-day
marathon training session that involved medical staff from four Asian
countries.

Organized by UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, the
training at Sylhet’s medical college hospital was part of an ongoing national
effort to increase the number of doctors and nurses skilled in treating
fistulae, internal wounds suffered during childbirth that cause incontinence.

Many of the patients suffered fistula when they were teenagers.
Bilkiz Begum, 17, was among the youngest; she was afflicted while giving
birth at 15. Some, like Rupbahar Begum, 45, have endured the noisome
condition for two decades or more. Depending on the extent of their injuries,
the operations took two to five hours.

Operating simultaneously in four teams, experienced
surgeons, anaesthesiologists and nurses from Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan and
Timor Leste shared knowledge on fistula repair, while local medical staff and
students observed the procedures. Dr. Sayeba Akhter, of the Bangabandhu
Sheikh Mujib Medical University, was the senior surgeon.

It will take several weeks to determine the surgical
outcome. Doctors in Bangladesh report a 80 per cent success rate in repairing
fistula. But some patients with severe birth injuries require multiple
procedures.

Sultana Begum, 22, endured eight operations over six years
before being fully cured. Now a community fistula advocate, she was on hand
to counsel patients prior to surgery. In her poor village north of Sylhet,
she is part of a campaign to inform fistula sufferers of treatment options,
and to prevent fistula by reducing early marriage and encouraging mothers to
get skilled delivery assistance.

Similar training sessions in districts throughout
Bangladesh have trained scores of doctors and nurses in the past several
years, but this was the first to involve medical staff from other Asian
countries. Some 1,200 Bangladeshis have undergone fistula surgery since 2003,
when the UNFPA-led Global Campaign to End Fistula began providing medical
equipment and financial support for training efforts and patient
rehabilitation.