Abdulrazaq Mungadi, Gombe
The Project Director, Evangel VVF Center Jos, Dr. Sunday Lengmang has called on the government of Gombe State to initiate a plan to strengthen the state’s sexual and reproductive health system.
Lengmang stated this in an interview shortly after rounding up one-week free surgery and treatment for patients with VVF in Gombe State.
“From our findings, it is really clear that we still have a big problem regarding sexual and reproductive health, especially obstetric fistula in Gombe State,” said Lengmang.
He said in the course of the surgical outreach, the group found out that cases of several women suffering obstetric fistula and labouring for more than three days before delivery.
While lamenting the growing number of women with obstetric fistula in Gombe, Lengmang said the health system and early marriage contributed to the challenge faced by women in delivery of children.
Said Lengmang: “The health system has something to contribute to this: a woman needing Caesarean Section (CS) that approaches a hospital should at least be able to have the CS within 30 minutes.
If that lingers and she has labored for two or three days at home, wasted another day or some hours on the road, by the time she comes to the hospital it will be obvious that she needs CS so she should not be allowed to stay for more than an hour.
“We saw girls that was married at 11years and also another young deaf girl that I considered to be about 20 years old but she has been married for eight years, that was married at the age of 11 or 12 years old. This tells us that the issue of early marriage is still rampant,” he said.