Vesicovaginal Fistula: Restoring Hope To Ostracised Women

According to the 2018 Demographic and Health Survey, DHS, as many as 18,000 women in Cameroon suffer from Vesicovaginal Fistula, VVF. This is a condition that turns victims overnight into outcasts - even among their own family members. And in society in general. Especially as the cost of treatment is huge - often in hundreds of thousands of FCFA. Moreover, health facilities operating the service are few in Cameroon.

“Vesicovaginal Fistula is considered a taboo in Adamawa Region. But when patients understand there is possibility of treatment, they easily open up,” explains Ngomna Pascal, a senior nurse, medical imagery technician and Discipline Master of Ngaoundere Protestant Hospital in Adamawa Region.

It for this reason that the United Nations Population Fund, UNFPA, in 2018 entered into an agreement with the Vesicovaginal Centre of Ngaoundere Protestant Hospital. The centre began work in 2014. The hospital belongs to the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Cameroon, EELC, which was founded in 1935, thanks to a partnership with Norwegian missionaries.

“For this year 2021, UNFPA requested us to operate 45 women. But given the high demand - and after consulting with UNFPA - we were given the go-ahead to operate 100 women this year. So far, we have operated 52 women since the agreement took effect,”  Ngomna says. A renowned obstetrics surgery centre, the Ngaoundere Vesicovaginal Fistula facility attracts patients from all over Cameroon. With a good number from neighbouring Central African Republic, CAR.

“Prior to UNFPA’s sponsorship, VVF operations in our centre were paid for by patients’ families. The cost was very high - at least 200,000 FCFA; added to transport fares to Ngaoundere, feeding, medication…,” Ngomna stresses. “Now, UNFPA takes charge of everything. They even distribute food rations and offer money for patients’ upkeep while the...