VVF,and the Health Hazards of Early Marriage #iloveyerima #marriagenotfornication #bridenotslave #counteringhatecampaign ***This excellent article by Ovia Ali Omasoro exposes the lies and ignorance of the #ChildnotBride campaigners as it relates to their claim that early marriage is the leading cause of Vesico Vaginal Fistula (VVF). ***It is an intellectual contribution to this debate that have been promoted by anti-Islam elements with ignorance, bigotry and hate. Early marriage or Child marriage has magnatized scathing arguments against its practice for some days now,wherein the most heart-wrenchingpresented yet,is a convulsive tale of a particularly disturbing birth complication. Campaigners would shudder us off guard with extremely gory pictures of sufferers loosing control of their bladder ,unknowingly passing out urine at inappropriate locations,and in some instances,passing out faeces through the same tract meant for urination. While #ChildNotBride activists may be absolutely correct about the sufferings of these mothers, pegging early marriage as the overriding cause of the ailment is mischievously misleading at best,and a dirty blackmail at worst. The above rebuttal shall be corroborated by compelling evidence from world class authorities on the worrying defect called Vesico Vaginal Fistula. Vesico Vaginal Fistula (VVF) is an abnormal link between the woman’s private part and the urinary bladder, which results in an involuntary release of urine into the part( Spurlock, 2011). While the case of an abnormal link between the rectum and private part ,leading to involuntary release of faeces into that part is called Recto Vaginal Fistula (Taylor ,2011). The general name for both conditions is called Obstetric Fistula. A condition that arises from prolonged/obstructed labour of 3 to 5 days,in which a ceasarean section cannot be accessed,eventually resulting to malfunctions or death. In that light,and contrary to #ChildNotBride narrative,earlymarriage is not the underlying cause of obstetric fistula. Indigence and dearth of amenities are the cause. Poor infrastructuresand malnutrition have been agreed by leading experts on Fistula to be the primary causes of birth complications in Africa. In a study done on Nigeria by the International Journal of Obstetrics & Gynaecology in 1983,it was gathered that 64.5 per cent of women who developed VVF had tried putting to bed at home due to total absence of clinics in their localities. Which is also exacerbated by a comatose transportation means needed to convey the birthing mothers into cities with available facilities. Not to mention the fact that virtually of all these mothers are so hidden in the rural enclaves that even a taste of prenatal service most times becomes wishful luxury. Besides,when they sometimes go to clinic for delivery,many hospitals in the North lack the facilities and personnel to perform caesarean section(operation) which the Fistula Foundation in USA has enumerated as the “most effective preventive measure of VVF”. In going forward, World medical practitioners had explained why in error of commission, early marriage instead of malnutrition and poverty has been dubbed the direct cause of fistula. They contend that since there is so much poverty in Africa (in this case the North) and lack of proper nutrition thereof,most women tend to become stunted in growth. Experts explained further,by saying this malnourishment,mostly prevalent among poor Africans of adolescent ages as much as in middle age people could sometimes lead to skeletons unequipped for proper birth.This weak and underdeveloped bone structure increases the chances that the baby will get stuck in the pelvis during birth, and resulting to complications. Showing that other factors(poor health service and poverty) and not early marriage is the primary cause for VVF,we shall make reference to comments by champions anti-early marriage before the brouhaha of Senator Yerima took center stage. In a seminar held earlier this year in the Cross River capital of Calabar, the State Ministry for women affairs disclosed that as at November 2012, some 638 women –and growing– had made themselves available for treatment on VVF. In his speech, the Women Affair’s Director of Administration,Mr. Vincent Egbe, supported the poverty angle of fistula when he opined that: “The finds indicate VVF was much in the rural areas where most of the affected women have no easy access to health information and facilities.” This finding which shows more than disproportionate percentage of the sufferers are women of middle age baffled the state Commissioner for Health, Dr. Angela Oyo-Ita into saying”it was surprising to note that there were fewer cases of VVF among teenagers, but more cases among the older women.” In a clear departure from her recent outburst against early marriage, the State Commissioner for Women Affairs, Mrs. Edak Iwuchukwu,also had admitted then that “obstetric issues, lack of trained birth attendants, and poverty” are the main causes of VFF. Unfortunately all these turncoats, in a shattered leftover of their former selves ,last week blamed early motherhood for fistula. However, as a vindication for supporters of #BrideNotSlaves,the US Fistula Foundation responsible for treating VVF world wide contended in 2011 that “Any woman who can gain access to emergency obstetric care such as a caesarean section(operation) will not develop a fistula.” It is against this background of evidence both by Nigerian and foreign experts that one can say Early Marriage is not the immediate cause of VVF; which takes us to the solution for the ailment. Obstetric fistula as pointed out by Fistula Foundation can be treated permanently through a surgical session costing just $450( N67,500). Again on poverty, since most of the victims in the North cannot boast of that amount in a financial year, they just live with VFF instead–Our donations and not protest would help them. In a similar vein,as a preventive mechanism to this societal scourge of fistula, The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) in 2011 suggested we avoid” delay in seeking medical attention; delay in reaching a medical facility; and delay in receiving medical care once arriving at a health care facility”. Hence,activistsof #ChildNotBride could best help the women affected by VVF by tasking the corrupt and dysfunctional senators(Yes, I agree) to influence legislation that would reduce poverty in Nigeria, build maternal centres in remote enclaves of the country, and lastly foot the surgical bills of VVF patients across Nigeria. That is the least we could do to help these suffering brides. Omasoro Ovie Ali Lagos,Nigeria omasoroo@yahoo 27/07/2013
Posted on: Sat, 27 Jul 2013 10:16:22 +0000
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