TV CELEBRITY DEEPLY MOVED BY FISTULA SURVIVORS IN GUINEA BISSAU

“I thought I was doomed to suffer for the rest of my life. One day, I heard on the radio that they were going to operate on fistulas here. So I came. After the surgery I stopped leaking. I am so happy!”

Portuguese television celebrity and UNFPA Goodwill Ambassador, Ms. Catarina Furtado was deeply moved by Ms. Salimatu Barry, 24, during her recent visit to a fistula ward in Mansoa, a major city in the Oio region, 55 km from the capital, Bissau. Ms. Furtado is committed to help reducing maternal mortality and morbidities like obstetric fistula, which in turn is bringing hope and dignity back to many women in Guinea Bissau.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Portuguese TV celebrity and UNFPA Goodwill Ambassador, Ms. Catarina Furtado, cheers Ms. Salimatu Barry during her visit to the fistula ward in the Mansoa Hospital, Guinea Bissau. Photo: UNFPA.

Ms. Barry developed an obstetric fistula during her first pregnancy seven years ago. Caused by unrelieved obstructed labour, which almost always results in a stillborn baby, the condition renders survivors incontinent, often leading to stigma and ostracism, as in Ms. Barry’s case. Her companion left her and she had to drop out of school because of urinary incontinence.

Obstetric fistula, a devastating childbirth injury that affects more than 2 million women and girls in developing countries, clearly exposes the challenges that persist in reducing global maternal and neonatal mortality and morbidity. With as many as 100,000 new cases each year, the problem continues to affect numerous women and girls (often the poorest of the poor), who have little or no access to life-saving emergency obstetric care.

Still recovering from surgery when she met Ms. Furtado, Ms. Barry confided that she plans to have another baby, but will wait until the doctors say it is safe; she does not want to live the same nightmare again.

The hospital where Ms. Barry was operated on was equipped for fistula surgery as part of a project to fight maternal mortality and morbidity in Guinea Bissau. The project is sponsored by Ms. Furtado and implemented by UNFPA with support from the Portuguese cooperation agency and funds raised since 2006 in partnership with RTP, Portugal’s state-owned public service broadcasting organization. The project focuses on two priority regions, Gabu and Oio, with a planned expansion to the Bafata region.

On her third visit to Guinea Bissau since the project was launched in 2008, Ms. Catarina Furtado is fulfilling her promise to visit annually the regions covered by the activities, and to advocate for maternal health in the country.

Besides the newly equipped surgical unit inaugurated in 2009, the project has also contributed to medical staff training and the purchasing of an ambulance. These contributions greatly enhance Mansoa Hospital’s capacity as a fistula treatment centre— the only one available in the country besides the National Fistula Center located in the capital.

During her visit to Mansoa, Ms. Furtado commented on the excellence of the surgical unit. She was informed that the staff has been coached by two doctors from Dakar, Senegal — increasing the skills of local professionals to treat fistula in the centre. Once operated, fistula survivors stay in a specialized ward for two weeks to ensure a good recovery.

Ms. Furtado was also informed that a fistula campaign had ended the day before her visit: 47 women had had surgery, compared to the 17 that were treated during the previous campaign. While in the ward, she had the opportunity to meet other fistula survivors, like Ms. Sabado Mamai, 55.

Ms. Mamai became a fistula advocate after living with obstetric fistula for nearly 40 years. She was abandoned by everyone except her brother. One day, the nurse who works in the island where she lives, four hours away from the capital, told Ms. Mamai about the possibility of having fistula surgery. Ms. Mamai seized the opportunity and now she encourages other women to follow her example.

“My life has changed completely and for the better. When my friends noted the change, they started talking to me again,” she told Ms. Furtado.

Guinea Bissau, a Portuguese-speaking country in West Africa, is home to almost 1.6 million people according to 2009 data, approximately 400,000 of whom are women of reproductive age. With a maternal mortality ratio estimated at 1,100 deaths per 100,000 live births (UN, 2009) the country faces a staggering reality: two women die every day from causes related to pregnancy and childbirth.

Contraceptive prevalence is low in urban areas – approximately 10 per cent – and it is significantly less in rural areas. According to the Ministry of Health, skilled attendance is observed in only 38.8 per cent of births. The project implemented by UNFPA is helping change this situation.

“Emergency obstetric care is no longer a neglected issue and the Ministry of Health has just taken provisions to financially contribute to the activities,” explained UNFPA adviser, Dr. Antonieta Martins. “Health care providers in the project sites have become more caring and more confident about their skills,” Dr. Martins noted.

At the end of her visit to Guinea Bissau, Ms. Furtado met the Prime Minister, Mr. Carlos Gomes Junior, to advocate for more Government support, so that the country can reach the MDG 5 targets to improve maternal health. “I am going home optimistic,” said Ms Furtado. “The officials here are highly involved in the process and we already notice a significant decrease in maternal mortality in some areas of the country.”

*****

RTP and Ms. Catarina Furtado have committed to produce a series of documentaries on how the funds raised in Portugal have been spent in the field and on the results achieved. The series “Dar Vida sem Morrer” (Giving Life without Dying) has been aired on RTP and RTP Africa since 2009.

For more information, please contact:

Dr. Antonieta SOARES MARTINS, IPO RH, anmartins@unfpa.org, Tel + (245) 598 2061 / + (245) 680 8048;

Mamadú Bámba Gning, UNFPA Communication Focal Point, gning@unfpa.or, Tel + (245) 320 5827 / + (245) 666 3170 / + (245) 320 5827.