Bungoma to remain under free fistula programs and cervical cancer screening

Bungoma, Monday, 29, May, 2023,

KNA by Bronley Kidari

Obstetric fistula is a condition that mainly affects the urinary bladder or rectum and the vagina.

The condition occurs mostly as a complication of obstructed labour but can also be caused by radiation, surgical trauma or accidents and leads to uncontrolled, continuous leakage of urine or faecal matter.

Karen Aura, a Ministry of health official at Bungma referral hospital says that fistula has put women living with it to shame.

“Fistula has left these women living in shame, experiencing depression and being viewed as outcasts in our society.” Aura said.

Aura said that the quality of care for such patients was wanting in our country and there was need to improve so as to achieve a fistula free nation.

Evelyn Injendi, a beneficiary of the M pesa Foundation fistula treatment program told KNA that she had been saved from fistula shame.

Injendi said her problem started two weeks after undergoing an operation to remove fibroids.

“I was a victim of fistula which started two weeks after I had an operation to remove fibroids, but the operation tempered with my urinal bladder” Evelyn said.

She said that early May this year, she was lucky to get a message from M- pesa foundation stating that all fistula patients would get help at Webuye county hospital.

She said fistula was a shaming experience to her, but she is so happy that her dignity has been restored

M-PESA Foundation in partnership with Flying Doctors Society of Kenya, United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), Amref- Kenya and International Cancer Institute (ICI) launched a fistula programme targeting Bungoma, Kilifi, Nyeri and Murang’a counties.

This partnership has benefited women in the four counties to undergo fistula surgeries at Webuye, Bungoma to get back to their day to day activities without pain and discrimination from society.

The programme has been educating communities on fistula management to eradicate stigma among women with fistula.

“When I had fistula, everyone ran away from me. I only had my mum and my husband. I was like a small kid because I used to wear pampers,” Evelyn explained.

Elizabeth Musima, another beneficiary from Bungoma of the fistula treatment program narrated to KNA how she got fistula in 1996 while giving birth to her second child.

“I did not know that what I had was fistula and out of ignorance, I suffered with the condition for 20 years.

“I heard of the fistula treatment program through the media, and I visited the Webuye medical Centre, and I was helped,” Musima said.

Webuye county hospital medical superintendent Dr Simon Kisaka said the Obstetric Fistula camp that started on May 19 to May 26th saw over 50 women showing up for screening .

Kisaka said that there had been a rise in fistula cases in the Mt Elgon and Bumula areas and most of the affected women had come out for treatment and received help.

“Most of these cases get women who give birth back in the villages without the presence of qualified and skilled nurses.

That is why we encourage mothers to come into our facilities and deliver since it will help tame the cases,” he said.

Dr Kisaka said that the aim of the camp was to restore dignity to the mothers in the community who had lost respect due to fistula.

He said that patients were undergoing screening on arrival before going surgeries.

He confirmed that 42 fistula patients were in the facility and that 11 had undergone successful surgeries.

Dr. Dan Okoro said that their mission was to create a world where each pregnancy was wanted, every child is safe and every young person’s potential is fulfilled.

“Fistula has ended in some parts of the world, and it can end in Kenya and even in Bungoma,” Okoro said.

Okoro said that “Bungoma County has been selected as Program County till 2026 for free fistula programs and cervical cancer screening,”

 “We must clear the backlog and as we clear the backlog, we must close the tap and we must improve quality of care through allocation of resources,” Dr Okoro added.

The M-pesa foundation through Lucille Aveva said they were glad to be back in Bungoma. “We were here in October 2021 where we started this fistula treatment and 60 women got a new lease of life after treatment,” Lucille said.

She congratulated all the women who headed to their calls and messages and got their lives transformed.

Lucille said that through the M-PESA foundation they advocate for SDG’s that cover, education, environmental conservation and health. 

“So far through partnership we have impacted over 350 women in Bungoma, Nyeri, Kajiado, Tharaka Nithi, Migori, Kilifi and Nairobi County,” Lucille said.

She said they had supported the camp to a tune of Shs 4.8million and witnessed at least 60 women suffering from fistula being transformed.

A 29-year-old patient whose surgery on May 22, 2023 went well and who wished not to be named said she got fistula in the year 2013.

“I got fistula in 2013 after giving birth but I realized I had the problem after two weeks and have been struggling with it since,” she said.

She said that she got a message on the free fistula treatment program and arrived at Webuye County Hospital on Saturday May 20, 2023.

She said that after screening she was told it could have been caused by prolonged labor pains and she was taken in for surgery.

“I underwent the surgery and now as I lie in this ward, I feel normal again and very okay,” she said.

She said she had suffered rejection, stigmatization and humiliation from friends and public but now she was happy that her dignity as a woman had been restored.

The patient urged other women suffering from fistula to visit the hospital to get quality treatment.

 Courtesy ; K. N. A