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Miss Ghana 2007 named Fistula
Ambassador
Accra, Oct. 17, Ghanadot/GNA - The United Nations Population
Fund (UNFPA) and Government of Ghana (GoG) on Wednesday
jointly named Ms Frances Judith Takyi-Mensah, Miss Ghana
2007, as Ambassador of Obstetrics Fistula Project in the
country.
Conferment of the ambassadorial role on the beauty queen
stemmed from her interest in helping to control maternal
mortality in the country.
Mr Makane Kane, UNFPA Representative said: "We are happy
that Ms Ghana 2007, also known as Ms Ghana@50 has chosen no
other area to work on but Obstetrics Fistula as this would
bring smiles on the faces of women and girls affected.
"We hope that your role would also help champion the cause
of prevention, treatment and re-integration of the affected
in the Ghanaian society," he added.
Obstetrics fistula is a hole in the birth canal caused by
prolonged labour without prompt medical intervention,
usually ending up in a caesarean section.
Women are left with chronic incontinence and in most cases
stillborn babies.
There is also the leaking of urine or faeces or both which,
when not treated, could lead to chronic medical problems
including ulcerations, kidney disease and nerve damage in
the legs.
At least two million women in Africa, Asia and the Arab
region are living with the condition, and about 50,000 to
100,000 new cases develop each year.
Mr Kane said UNFPA's special focus for the year was to make
motherhood and delivery safer as part of the Millennium
Development Goals.
He recounted that smell of leaking urine or faeces of women
suffering obstetrics fistula drove away loved ones and that
was quite humiliating.
"Why then allow our mothers to suffer if a simple surgery
can normally repair the injury?" he asked.
Mr Kane said UNFPA would continue to support countries to
ensure that every pregnancy and birth became safe; every
young person also became free of HIV/AIDS and every girl and
woman was treated with dignity and respect.
Mr Yaw Okyere-Nyarko, Chief Economic Officer, Ministry of
Finance and Economic Planning, said it was not good to see
women suffer and be rejected as a result of obstetrics
fistula and called for more interventions for women in the
rural areas.
He appealed to the media to project the work of the beauty
queen to create more awareness on obstetrics fistula.
Ms Takyi-Mensah said she was touched by a story she came
across on the Internet on obstetrics fistula.
"Motherhood has not been a joke, as without our mothers none
of us would be present here," she remarked.
With her charming smiles, the beauty queen pledged to be an
advocate and an icon of hope to women affected by obstetrics
fistula.
Ms Takyi-Mensah received a handicraft depicting a woman
carrying two babies and two educational DVD on obstetrics
fistula.
In 2003, UNFPA spearheaded the Global Campaign to end
fistula, prevent it and restore the health and dignity of
those living with its consequences.
UNFPA Ghana in collaboration with the Ministry of Health and
Ghana Health Service took up this effort in 2005.
GNA
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