The started with Vesico Vaginal Fistula (VVF) and has now incorporated uterine prolapse.
Mrs Josephine Elechi knows exactly how to support her husband Governor Martins Elechi in improving the quality of life for Ebonyi State residents.
In 2007 she established a centre where women would be treated for VVF, a disease that leaves women unable to control the frequent discharge of urine. The scourge afflicts women of various ages and is reported in the North as well as South, though more prevalent in the former.
Various factors account for the disease, including undue foetal weight on the bladder of young expectant mothers. VVF also results in victims of violent rape, as it does in women who undergo protracted labour. Doctors say VVF has a profound effect on the health and emotional well-being of patients.
Figures released by the National Demographic Health Survey say that as many as 12,000 women develop VVF every year in Nigeria, and that women in the city are affected just as those in remote places are also patients. VVF cases may occur in villages without health facilities and good roads, making prompt medical attention difficult during complicated childbirth.
Mrs Elechi set up a VVF Centre to tackle the scourge in Ebonyi free of charge, but soon it became imperative to also focus attention on uterine prolapse, another condition in which the uterus drops into, or protrudes out of, the vagina.
Mrs Elechi who chairs the National Fistula Working Group, said that she started the Centre in 2007 as part of her pet project, naming it the Mother and Child Care Initiative (MCCI). She said the Centre targeted drastically reducing maternal and child mortality and morbidity in the state
All the services of the Centre are free of charge.
In 2012, the centre started treating women for uterine prolapse. Dr Sunday Oduoye, Medical Director of the Centre explained that uterine prolapse focus became necessary at the centre even though it was opened mainly for treatment of women suffering from VVF.
Oduoye said: “Uterine prolapse is a condition in which a woman’s uterus (womb) sags or slips out of its normal position. The uterus may slip enough that it drops partway into the vagina (birth canal), creating a lump or bulge”.
He attributed the hospital’s treatment of the disease to Mrs Elechi’s compassion, generosity and burning desire to uplift women.
“In 2008 when Her Excellency was going round communities in the state to find out women suffering from VVF, it was discovered that many of those who turned out rather had the uterine prolapse”
Mrs Elechi who was saddened at the plight of the women, took pity on them and decided to foot the bill for their treatment at the hospital. But the Centre had before then concluded arrangements to treat those with the VVF, so could not attend to their plight immediately but promised to address their situation later.
“Due to the support and encouragement of the governor’s wife, the centre was encouraged to begin treatment for the uterine prolapse women early in 2012 and in the first batch, 65 women were treated,” said Dr Oduoye,
Dr Oduoye spoke at a recent discharge of yet another set of 66 Uterine Prolapse patients who were successfully treated at the Centre.
This brings the total of successfully treated uterine prolapse clients from various states of the country in the past two years to 403.
The feat, Oduoye noted, was achieved with the support of Wife of Mrs Elechi who founded the centre to cater principally for VVF patients before it was taken over by the federal government in 2011.
He also revealed that the Centre has also treated 1800 VVF patients, screened over 8000 women for breast and cervical cancer, which he said is the highest record by a single government health institution in the country.
The MD commended the governor’s wife for the financial support despite the fact that the centre which she founded is now a federal government establishment.
The centre, he revealed, is poised to commence in-vitro-fertilisation treatment for women from first quarter of this year with the acquisition of state-of-the-art IVF equipment.
“Without her support we won’t have recorded these successes. The centre has already procured equipments for in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) treatment and will start treatment for IVF by first quarter of 2014,” Oduoye said.
Mrs Elechi was made the chairman of the Centre’s Governing Board after the Federal government converted it to a national VVF centre of Excellence, where doctors are trained in the treatment of uterine prolapse and VVF.
The women narrated how they were treated at no cost, fed and clothed by the Centre. They thanked God and prayed for the governor’s wife.
Some of them spoke about their relief. Mrs Veronica Agubata from Nkalagu Ishielu Local Government Area; Ama Loveth from Edda, Afikpo South Local Government Area and Nkwuda Beatrice from Ikwo Local Government Area, all went down memory lane to relive their initial ordeal before help came.
They added that but for the governor’s wife’s intervention, they would still be in pain as they would not have footed the bill on their own.
In her address, Mrs Elechi called for more assistance from development partners in order to be able to treat other women with the disease. She said more than 500 women have been registered at the centre and are on the waiting list for treatment.
Mrs Elechi also advised pregnant women to register at government approved hospitals for ante natal care and delivery and shun patronising quacks and traditional birth attendants to avoid complications that could lead to the disease.
She also cautioned the women to strictly adhere to the instructions of the doctors not to have sex for the next six months and to access medical services in genuine hospitals, not local birth attendants, for child delivery.
The governor’s wife told them to report to the wives of their local government chairmen or coordinators of Development Centres whenever they unable to access good healthcare services.
“If you can’t get to them, come to me,” she said. “A few days back, two women came to me and said they didn’t have money to pay for hospital bills after delivery. We sent people to investigate and after we found out that it was true, we paid their bills and they were discharged.”
The governor’s wife decried the high level of gender-based violence being meted out to women in the society.
“The worst kind of this gender-based violence is suffered by VVF and uterine prolapse victims as a result of ostracisation by relations, the community and larger society due to no fault of theirs,” she said.
The Commissioner for Health, Dr Sunday Nwagele said that Mrs Elechi has attracted many development partners including the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Department for International Development (DFID) to the state who have keyed into her project because of her judicious use of funds given to her to help the women and children in the state.
He gave kudos to the Governor Elechi-led government for the giant strides in the health sector which include a drastic reduction in the number of maternal and infant mortality and morbidity in the state, eradication of polio and guinea worm, grants to six missionary hospitals in the state and regular immunisation in the state, amongst others.
“Mrs Elechi is god-sent as so many people who, hitherto, were suffering from various sicknesses and conditions have been treated and are now full of life” said Mrs Chinyere Nwanioke, Chairman, Onicha Local Government Area.
Despite, the governor’s wife’s efforts, the number of women with VVF and Uterine Prolapse seems to be rising rather than reducing.
Health experts blame this on the nonchalant attitude of government at all levels to the problem.
Huge amounts of money were budgeted for VVF by the federal government in the 2013 budget with President Goodluck Jonathan promising that one-third of the cases would be repaired in 2013, but there is no proof that the target was met.
The United Nations Population Fund, (UNFPA), says an estimated 2 to 3 million women and girls are living with fistula in Nigeria and other developing countries.
The agency has pledged more support to Mrs Elechi in her fight against the disease as well as her efforts to improve the lot of women in the state and the entire country.
The Country Representative of UNFPA, Mme Victoria Akyeampong stated recently in Abakaliki when she visited the Mrs Elechi.
Mme Victoria Akyeampong who expressed delight at the giant strides and achievements recorded courtesy of the partnership existing between UNFPA and other donor agencies and the Ebonyi Governor’s wife, which she said has caught the attention of the global community.
She said, “Obstetrics fistula is a highly neglected health and human rights tragedy. An estimated 2 to 3 million women and girls are living with fistular in developing countries even when the condition is virtually unheard of in developed countries”.
“The prevalence of fistula therefore is an indication of underlying socio-economic factors such as gender inequality and poverty. To end fistula we need to work collectively to provide access to reproductive health services, eliminate gender based social and economic inequalities, prevent child marriage and early child bearing and keep our young girls in school”.
Mrs Elechi while receiving members of the Good Governance Tour team led by Information Minister, Mr Labaran Maku last year lamented that shortage of funds has prevented her from rendering more assistance to women from various states of the federation and therefore solicited the assistance of the Federal government in this regard.
She said, “When I started this programme I never knew I would have so many women coming out to this place for treatment. They did not come from Ebonyi alone but from other states of the country. That was why I cried out to the federal government and luckily for me they took it over through the ministry of health”.
“I have tried to access other states because my vision is that what is happening in Ebonyi should also happen in other states but it has not been possible to achieve that. So I want the federal Government to take into consideration the women at the grassroots level because these women are very poor and cannot do anything about their health issues that is why I am treating them free of cost”.
“We have women with uterine prolapsed; I have been treating women from Ebonyi but there are women from other states that came for treatment but I couldn’t treat them because I don’t have enough money to do so. Each time I remember them I feel like crying”.
