Acam also notes that the hospital also struggles with lack of sundries that are used in the management of fistula and that they also don’t have a specialized surgeon noting that they have to source for one from Kitovu Hospital, Soroti and Busitema Universities. Specialized Hospital.
Mbale Hospital administrators are requesting for a separate ward
for fistula patients arguing that mixing fistula patients in the general wards
has negatively affected them physiologically.
The Fistula Focal Person in the Hospital, Jane Frances Acam
said in an interview with Uganda Radio Network - URN that the space for the fistula cases in the
hospital is minimal yet the region has a high number of patients with the same cases.
She says that the region has high number of fistula cases and
yet they don’t have a specialized ward or unit to cater for these patients
adding that this makes some of the fistula patients to shun the hospital for
fear of being mixed with other patients. She adds that the hospital records at
least three fistula patients every month.
Acam also notes that the hospital also struggles with lack of
sundries that are used in the management of fistula and that they also don’t
have a specialized surgeon noting that they have to source for one from Kitovu
Hospital, Soroti and Busitema Universities. Specialized Hospital.
Cue in: “But it has challenges…
Cue out:…few supplies.”//
Patrick Ekomera, the Mbale Hospital Senior Administrator says
that the hospital lacks the service of a specialized ward designated to enable
quality services to fistula patients before they are reintegrated in the
communities.
Ekomera says that the hospital lacks adequate space to
establish such facilities and that it is constrained by the limited funding
which is why they have found it hard to establish a ward. He says there is need for such facility to enable patients get quality services.
Ekomera said the hospital attracts a big number of women who
require such services of fistula treatment and they need to be given privacy
because they need to be prepare physically and physiologically.
//Cue in: “We need to prepare…
Cue out:…to avoid.”//
Fistula is an abnormal connection or
passageway that connects two organs or vessels that do not usually connect.
They can develop anywhere between an intestine and the skin, between the vagina
and the rectum, and other places.
Mbale Hospital has registered an increase
in the fistula cases. According to records, at least three women are treated in
the hospital.
The cases mainly come from Sebei sub region and they are attributed
to the female genital mutilation.
The most affected are girls between the age
of 14 and 19 who get pregnant at a tender age making it hard for them to give
birth.
Kirinya Ayubu is the URN Bureau Chief of Elgon/Bukedi Sub Regions . He holds a Bachelors Degree in Mass Communication from Islamic University in Uganda and a Diploma in Computer Science and Information Technology from the same University.
