UGANDA: MEDICAL DIRECTOR ST. MARY’S HOSPITAL LACOR WARNS OF WORSENING SHORTAGE OF SKILLED MEDICAL EXPERTS WHICH HAS LEFT THOUSANDS OF FISTULA PATIENTS SUFFERING

“In Uganda we need everybody on board to join hands in treating mortality survival mothers who suffer during child delivery and they are having Fistula, as I talk now, we have a mother suffering from Fistula condition for 10 years from Agago District. She got infected 10 years ago from one of the hospitals in the region that I could not name. She was sent away because her condition cannot be treated by the Urology Gynecologist from that hospital Emilton Odong disclosed

GULU CITY-SATURDAY, 19, 2025.

 A month ago, Gulu University and Lira University hosted International Sexual Reproductive Rights Care in Gulu City, the focus has been on Obstetrics and Gynecology (OBGYN) at St. Paul Hospital’s Millennium Med-ical College of Michigan (SPHMMC), in Addis Ababa, in partnership with Dr. Senait Fisseha at Med-ical of Michigan (U-M).Gulu and Lira University saw this as a missed opportunity so they, designed and implemented a program in pre-service integration.

Dr. Emilton Odong Ayella, the Director of St. Mary’s Hospital Lacor took the opportunity to highlight condition of martal mortality in mothers suffering from Fistula in Uganda, due to lack of specialized medical doctors.

Shortage of skilled medical experts leaves ten thousand survival martal mortality mothers suffering from Fistula condition.

And yet, the underlying approach in the medical practice partnership was based on sustainability and anchored in facility capacity building and reproductive health service improvement. Revealed that there is a mother who has been living with Fistula worsening condition for the last ten years. The woman was operated at one of the Regional Referral Hospitals of Northern Uganda.

“As I talk now the woman who suffered from Fistula condition is at St. Mary’s Hospital Lacor, She lived in a filthy condition for the last 10 years, because she has been passing urine that made her condition worsen, she decided to abandoned home and spent all her time working in the garden to avoid public outcry, While putting on Gumboots to collect the urine flowing from her body, now she has a permanent mark on her legs due to over wearing gumboots.”

Thanks to the moderator, government officials, Guest of Honor for organizing Sexual Reproductive Health Care Hygiene, when we talk about patients’ lives, the women who survived martal mortality during child birth, we are talking about quality and health care.

As I talk now, we have a surviving mother who suffered from Fistula, her condition as she walked, she would be passing urine. She went through a surgical operation in the hand of unqualified medical doctor who inflicted her urinary bladder, and as such result she has no control of her urine due to endless flow.

In Uganda we have more of such mothers with Fistula condition, we have 25,000 of the Fistula cases in the country And yet we don’t have specialized medical experts who are able to treat Fistula Mothers who suffer during delivery, every year at my Hospital Lacor, which is a private Missionary health service, we are treating about 1,500 cases of Fistula alone.

“I can tell you 25,000 mothers who went to give birth yearly in Government hospitals get Fistula conditions as a result of the operation. Most of the affected mothers of Fistula do not work, because its  challenging, we are not aware that those people do not live among us, people say there is no cure because of financial burden, it’s a big challenge because there is no care in the government health units, the nurses in the hospital  cannot touch those people of Fistula cases, because their condition need intervention at the right time, we could have healed them.

Sometimes when those mothers come, they can be admitted by nurses who cannot take care of them, as they disregarded them because of the smell.”

Everybody, including the medical experts should be on board, I don’t know the capacity of Village Health Teams who work at the grassroots, their capability in term of health service. Has the Ministry of Health trained Village Health Team well on how to handle Fistula martal mortality services? St. Mary’s Hospital Lacor is the only large private hospital that treated Fistula mothers.

Dr. Dong Emilton Ayella disclosed that St. Mary Hospital Lacor is a referral PNFP. It is the largest private non profit faith based hospital in Uganda. Lacor was founded by the Comboni Missionary in 1959, and it owned by the registered trustee of Gulu Dioceses, and registered with National Board for Non-Governmental Organization and accredited to Uganda Catholic Medical Bureau.

Lacor Hospital Activities are in line with Uganda Ministry of Health Policies for Health Care provision. The integration of Lacor hospital into Uganda National Health System has been in line with Uganda National Health Reform which was implemented form 1996/1997.

Lacor is currently a complete with the 482 beds capacity hospital, three Peripheral health Centre each with 24 beds (At Opit, Amuru and Pabbo), a health training Institute with courses in Nursing Midwifer, Anaesthesia and Theatre Assistant. Lacor is also a teaching site for Gulu University Medical School, this a big development from a small 30 beds hospital it was 64 years ago.

On Saturday September 9, 2025. I walked into St. Mary Hospital Lacor on a quite silly morning at around 11:00AM local African time, as I was approaching the main hospital’s Director Dr. Odong Emilton Ayella, I saw him from a distance, as we made contact, a huge, touring built body huge smile attracted me 10 meters away.

You are welcome Mukoo, Okumu Langol, we walked into his office and sat down for about a minute as he arranged his desk and later, he phoned a nurse in charge of Gynecology ward, and informed her about my interview.

Gynecology ward, a private Fistula, is a distance of about 100 meters from the main administrative offices. As I descended down the stairs, I came to a large compound that was used as a reception center, many in-patients used the reception ground as a waiting place and a cooking place at the time.

There are tents constructed that give good waiting ground, the pavement is well curved, women and men use their mats to either lie down to rest or sit while conversing. On a usual day.

Within five minutes, a Nurse welcomed me in Gynecology ward 5, she was waiting eagerly to meet me, when I introduced myself, she called for a middle-aged woman who walked in with a bundle of plastic bag containing urine.

I introduced myself as a journalist working in the country and foreign Press, the lady did not feel intimidated nor inferior anymore. But, sound in mind, and very positive to talk to me.

Kindly would you mind if you may have an interview with me, I asked her to introduce herself.

I am called Ataro Filda, 48 years old from Pungole, Lalem village, Angagura Sub County, Pader District.

I asked her what happened to her that led to Fistula condition? Ataro narrative discourse is unique, she began to talk in a low voice, while turning her head down. Says her ordeal sickness started like this in Gulu Regional Referral Hospital. My husband Odong Martin took me for delivery at Gulu Regional Referral Hospital after carrying my pregnancy for 9 months. My labor pain started from home and I was brought to the Gulu Regional Referral Hospital.

The doctor, who she cannot remember his name, operated on her, she delivered a baby boy, but passed on immediately, I stayed in the hospital for five days, and later she was discharged, but when she was still in the hospital, she started developing water coming from her private parts.

When she reported the issue, the medical officer put on the glove in his hand, and examined her, (Owaca ni dog ologo na otyer), later the doctor told me that part of my bladder was damaged. I stayed for one month in the hospital, but later went back home.

“I narrated to my husband what happened, I told him that we should go back and seek medical help from St. Mary’s Hospital Lacor. He told me that he did not have money for my treatment, he had just paid the children’s school fees.” Ataro narrates.

She gave birth in April 2015 when her operation was carried out, till that time to date, she has never taken sodas, nor even chewing sugarcane, she does not take a lot of water, or carry heavy loads, as she would be putting loads down, she would feel water passing from her private part. But when she sat down without doing any work, no water would pass from her body, but when she began to walk, water would start flowing immediately.

Ataro lived a very desolation life

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/11JIlg87lXRNaHrzpN5jfnOQJHxGOJMO0

For 10 years, now my husband has abandoned me, we have never had sexual intercourse with my husband called Odong, my husband now has married a new wife. The relationship between me and him has been affected by my condition, he now has a new lady, she revealed upon her coming back from the operation which inflicted her permanent damage, they had sex a few times, but later they live in separate homes.

I know that our living apart is adding more problems amidst us, in June this year 2025, while I was working in my garden, which I have resorted to as a means of my lonely lifetime to avoid public outcry. Although once in a while I would go to attend community meetings. I have to avoid drinking water if I must stay without getting disappointed, even sodas I would not drink as earlier mentioned.

I heard an announcement over Mega Radio in Gulu City announcing that there is going to be a Fistula medical camp at St Mary’s Hospital Lacor and I also made my way.

“now I am a cured mother who had lived with Fistula for over 10 years”. There were many who had Fistula, but now remaining with a week to be discharged.

A Nurse who asked for unanimous says a month ago we admitted two patients with Fistula, in the coming month there will be no Fistula cases.

Report finding, the ministry of health has identified obstetric fistula as a significant public health issue, with estimates suggesting 140,000 to 200,000 women are living with the condition and approximately 1,900 new cases occur annually. While treatment is available, often free of charge, at numerous hospitals and has a high success rate (around 80%), many women face barriers to accessing care. The Ministry, along with partners like UNFPA, is working on prevention, treatment, and social reintegration to address these challenges

Beinomugisha Raymond data Officer from Gulu Regional Referral Hospital report from Gulu Regional Referal Hospital from 17 medical health Units indicated that82 mothers suffered fistula cases for the last five years,

According to Dr. Biafa head of Gynecology, Gulu Regional Referral Hospital.