Mrs Nwanne Kalu, The Challenge Initiative (TCI) Programme Coordinator in Delta, says adopting family planning can be a solution to Vesicovaginal fistula (VVF) challenge in Nigeria.
Kalu said this at the opening of the 3-day Training Workshop on Media Advocacy on Family Planning in Asaba on Monday.
The workshop is sponsored by the Delta Government and supported by TCI and Development Communications (DevComs) Network.
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Vesicovaginal fistula commonly called VVF, is an abnormal fistulous tract extension between the bladder (vesica) and the vagina which allows continuous and involuntary discharge of urine into the vaginal vault.
She said since VVF occurred due to early childbirth by teenage mothers, adopting family planning would protect young women from becoming pregnant, until their systems were fully developed to give birth without complications.
According to her, VVF occurs due to early childbirth by teenagers from about age 13.
“The most common cause of vesicovaginal fistula is obstructed labour, early marriage, poverty, and women’s limited control over the use of family resources.
“Women and girls with this disability are often abandoned by their husbands and isolated from the community due to the smell and shame associated with urine leakage,’’ she said.
Kalu said that since tradition allowed early marriages, such traditions should provide protection for the young mothers and the children to enable them to live a healthy and comfortable life as a family.
The programme coordiator said that as mothers, women had the right to life, whether as a married or a single mother.
Mrs Patience Eke, Head of Reproductive Health, Delta State Primary Health Care Agency, said the target of the state was to achieve 100 per cent indices on family planning yearly.
Eke tasked the media on advocacy and awareness creation to ensure that all parents were informed on how to take proper care of their children.
She said children should be properly spaced out to enable the woman’s womb to heal properly before giving birth to another and to ensure both the mother and the children lived a healthy life.
She said, “The media must let the people know that all the PHCs in Delta provide family planning services free.’’
Dr Bernard Emonena, anothe TCI official, said adopting family planning promoted health and welfare of the family and contributed positively to the development of the country at large.
He said that the concept of family planning was to avoid all the challenges associated with childbirth and raising of children as well as family health.
Emonena also said that adopting a family planning programme would help prevent unwanted pregnancies, early pregnancies, encourage child spacing and prevent old age pregnancies.
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DevComs’s representative, Fausiat Bakare-Balogun, noted that inadequate funding, rumours and misconceptions had remained a huge challenge to family planning in the country.
She said that the media, as strategic partners, should promote family planning by addressing the myths and misconceptions surrounding the concept.
“This will pave way for transformed families and a developed nation,” she said. (NAN)
