Abakaliki — The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) yesterday said over 12,000 women are afflicted with Vesico Viginal Fistula (VVF) in Nigeria, with[b] Ebonyi State having the highest of over 3,000 cases.[/b]
According to the Federal Ministry of Health, between 500,000 and 1,000,000 women/girls are living with VVF, and an estimate of up to 80,000 new cases are recorded annually. The maternal mortality ratio in Nigeria remains unacceptably high; adding that Nigeria contributing about 2.5% of the global population bears 10% of the global burden of maternal mortality and 40% of the global burden of obstetric fistula.
USAID Deputy Mission Director, Aler Grubbs, who stated this in Abakaliki while handing over hospital equipment worth N47million to the Ebonyi State government, said the disease was ravaging women in Nigeria.
She maintained that VVF is treatable and preventable as over 10,000 victims had been treated in the state and other parts of the country.
She pointed out that over 450 doctors had been trained in the area of VVF surgery, adding that USAID would continue to partner with Ebonyi to eradication the disease.
Vesicovaginal Fistula, or VVF, is an abnormal fistulous tract extending between the bladder (or vesico) and the vagina that allows the continuous involuntary discharge of urine into the vaginal vault, leading to an uncontrollable release of urine.
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