TheCable

The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) has trained 100 survivors of vesico vaginal fistula (VVF) on vocational skills in Sokoto state.

NAN reports that the training was a collaboration between UNFPA and the Sokoto government.

The VVF survivors were empowered with start-up tools such as poultry business equipment, cartons of chicks and bags of feed as well as local fan-making items to improve their living conditions in society.

Speaking during the training on Wednesday, Loide Amkongo, UNFPA head of the Kaduna sub-office, said many women and girls battling fistula are usually abandoned by their husbands and society.

Amkongo said the urine leakage and the smell associated with the condition make it difficult for the survivors to properly reintegrate into society.

Commenting on the life of fistula patients after treatment, Aisha Dantsoho, permanent secretary at the ministry of women affairs in Sokoto, said many survivors have engaged in businesses that helped them in funding the marriages of their children.

She encouraged the women not to allow their condition to distract them from pursuing their goals.

On his part, Bello Lawal, chief medical director of Maryam Abacha Women and Children Hospital, listed obstructed labour, early marriage, and poverty as some of the probable causes of fistula.

Lawal said the condition can be treated, adding that “ there is hope for every VVF, including the inoperable cases which needed specialist attention”.

“VVF is an abnormal opening between the bladder and the vagina that results in continuous and unremitting urinary incontinence,” he added.

“The entity is one of the most distressing complications of gynecologic and obstetric procedures.”

He urged the survivors to adhere to the medical advice and also take advantage of the empowerment tools to improve their lives and business.