Lira women get new lease of life after vital surgeries

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Women |

A total of 42 women from Ogur and Aromo sub counties in Lira District got a new lease of life after a team of seven medical doctors, including two obstetrics-gynaecology specialists, operated them after years of living with different sexual and reproductive health complications.

The women were beneficiaries of a week-long medical camp by Isis-WICCE funded in partnership with Lira Women Peace Initiative (LIWEPI) and Lira Regional Referral Hospital, at the hospital premises from October 17 to 22.

The medical camp was a follow up on findings of a monitoring, screening and support exercise Isis-WICCE/LIWEPI conducted in July 2011. This exercise revealed that most of the women had never had medical attention following the rape and sexual violations they experienced during the war against the rebels of the notorious Lord’s Resistance Army.

Surgeons during one of the operations at Lira Hospital

As a result of these violations, many developed reproductive health complications, which caused them trauma. This has had a significant impact on women’s ability to participate in post conflict reconstruction programmes. The medical intervention was therefore important to give them with total healing and peace.

Many of the women had loose and prolapsed of the uterus either as a result of many births that were not properly spaced or because of repeated rapes and lack of immediate medical attention. As such, hysterectomy, or the surgical removal of the uterus, procedures were carried out on these women. Other women had fibroids which were also tended to at the medical camp.

Like many other places in the country, access to healthcare in Lira is very limited especially for people who live far away from the town centres. Although government has designed special programmes in response to the effects of the two-decade conflict in Lira and much of northern Uganda, these programmes, such as the PRDP, do not in any way address specific women challenges such as sexual and reproductive health complications that directly resulted from the conflict.

Dr Otim Tom Charles, who led the team, while expressing relief that all operations but one (VVF) had been successful, called attention to government to focus more on women’s health needs especially in war ravaged regions.

Isis-WICCE calls for more attention to reproductive health by government and other development partners as it has not been given much attention.

This medical intervention was held with resources from HIVOS and SIDA who have contributed a lot to address challenges to achieving the bodily integrity of women.