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Govt urged to train more surgeons for obstetric fistula
2005-09-26 08:48:06
By Peter Tindwa
The government must train enough doctors to administer surgery among hundreds of thousands of girls and women suffering from obstetric fistula in Tanzania.
The Director of Bugando Medical Centre, Dr Charles Majinge, said in Dar es Salaam last week that currently the number of medical doctors administering surgery for obstetric fistula was very low.
Dr Majinge stated that since 1997 to date, at least 12 medical doctors have been trained in obstetric fistula surgery.
He added that the 12 doctors have been trained through the Women’s Dignity Project.
Dr Majinge, however, stated that a research to identify women and girls suffering from the condition would be carried out countrywide.
He said that the planned research would start any time from now so that the identified patients might get appropriate treatment.
’’We need to create awareness among Tanzanian girls and women that treatment of obstetric fistula is available,’’ Dr Majinge stated.
According to Dr Majinge, such awareness has increased among girls and women living in the Lake Zone.
He noted that the country has many girls and women, who are suffering from fistula and are yet to report their cases to hospitals and other medical centres.
Last week, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Health, Mariam Mwaffisi, was quoted as saying that available records on patients suffering from fistula indicate that there are 3,000 such patients.
She, however, said that the exact figure would be established soon after conducting data collection planned for countrywide.
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