USAID/Guinea: Fistula Project Repairs Lives

SEPTEMBER 7, 2006

Fistula Project Repairs Lives

With assistance from USAID, two Guinean hospitals provide surgery to women with fistula, permitting them to resume their places in society.

CONAKRY - Rejected by her husband, living in her parents' village and unable to participate in food preparation or Muslim prayer, Mouima Koundouno endured 28 years of physical and emotional hardship with a problem rarely seen in the Western world.

But after surgery at Kissidougou Hospital to repair a fistula -- a tear in the vagina that leads to incontinence -- Koundouno happily returned "like a queen" to her village in Forest Guinea, where she once again can be found dancing at village gatherings, visiting neighbors, and praying at mosque.

Mouima Koundouno's experience prompted four other women from her village with fistula to come forward for treatment.

Though a long time coming, the news of Mouima Koundouno's successful healing prompted four other women in her village with fistula to come forward for treatment. They are just a few of the 111 Guinean women who have received surgical treatment for fistula under the ACQUIRE-Fistula project implemented by Engender Health with funding from USAID/Guinea.

Nearly 2 million women in developing countries suffer from fistula and there are between 50,000 and 100,000 new cases each year worldwide, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). In areas where there is a high incidence of maternal mortality, two to three women develop a fistula for every 1,000 live births, WHO says.

In four out of five cases, fistula appears after prolonged or obstructed labor during childbirth, chiefly due to poor nutrition, underage pregnancy and the generally inadequate prenatal care common in Guinea. Many more cases result from violent rape, which became endemic in Forest Guinea during rebel incursions after a decade of civil conflict in neighboring Sierra Leone.

Engender Health provides access to fistula treatment services in the District Hospital of Kissidougou and the National Hospital of Ignace Deen in Conakry. Fistula surgical repair expertise is provided by Pr Bobo Diallo, a highly qualified surgeon, as well as experts from the Geneva Foundation of Medical Education and Research.

Story by Richard Stirba and Lucy Wilson