The wife of Cross River State
governor, Dr Linda Ayade has given her assurance that women undergoing fistula
repairs at the General Hospital, Ogoja, Cross River State will be assisted with
free feeding and rehabilitation and integration after surgery. This is in
addition to the present rehabilitation project her organization MDF has been
doing for women who had vesico vagina fistula repairs in Calabar.
She made this pledged on Thursday,
5th October, 2017 while receiving a team from USAID Fistula Care Project
implementers “ENGENDER HEALTH" at her office in Calabar.
Dr Ayade said the high number of
obstetric fistula cases in Nigeria,with over 12,000 new case every year was
worrisome and the State Government is doing every thing possible to ensure they
support the efforts of the USAID fistula care plus team to attend to cases in
CRS.
She noted that, Mediatrix
Development Foundation which is her pet project will be partnering with the
State to ensure that the women undergoing fistula repairs are given free
feeding and rehabilitation and integration back into their communities after
surgery.
Finally she commended USAID for
setting up this project in Cross River State and reassures them of her
foundation and State Government support to the project.
The Honorable Commissioner for Health,
Cross River State, Dr Mrs Inyang Asibong, while presenting the safe motherhood
Ambassador Award to Her Excellency thanked her for all her super support for
mothers and children in the state. She said ENGENDER HEALTH with Support from
USAID had set up a fistula care plus centre at Ogoja General Hospital to repair
women of obstetrics fistula. She said fistula is considered an endemic
situation and with the support of USAID the State will achieve maximum result.
Also Speaking, Dr Betta Edu added
that the Governor of Cross River State, Prof. Ben Ayade, is very passionate
about the health of women and children, and is committed to reducing cases of
fistula in the state.
According to her there is a great
need for obstetrics fistula repairs in the State while assuring the team from
USAID that health workers in the primary healthcare level will mobilize
affected women to the VVF centre at Ogoja.
She ended by commending Dr Iyeme
Efem the country director of Engender Health for attracting such support to
Cross River State.
Earlier Speaking, the Country
Project Manager, EngenderHealth, Chief Iyeme Efem said it a great pleasure to
work in Cross River State and his organisation is looking at getting the
required skilled group which will be able to manage the repairs as the nation
is looking at achieving 10,000 repairs across the nation yearly.
He noted that during their last
discussion with the Minister of health, he had agreed to wave off fees for
fistula repairs at the teaching hospitals and this directive has been sent to
all Chief medical directors of teaching hospitals. So we are now looking at
visiting the teaching hospitals to see how we can get them to comply with this
directive, he said.
Chief Efem pleaded for the support
of the Cross River state government to support feeding which cost about 800
Naira per day to feed each woman for the two weeks duration.
He thanked the Cross River State
Government for their overwhelming support for the take off of the project in
Ogoja.
It would be recalled that last month, a pool effort was
done in Ogoja with about 28 women repaired.
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