KARACHI: Senior officials representing the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) on Friday shared that the international body would soon declare the Koohi Goth Hospital as its regional centre for training in fistula management.

The hospital is a charitable healthcare facility offering obstetric, gynaecological and other women-related treatments free of cost in Landhi.

They were speaking at a press conference organised by the Pakistan National Forum on Women’s Health (PNFWH) in connection with International Day to End Obstetric Fistula — one of the most serious childbirth injuries caused by obstructed and delayed labour, without access to timely high quality medical treatment.

The theme of this year is “Her Health, Her Right: Shaping a Future Without Fistula”.

Speaking at the briefing, Head of UNFPA-Sindh Golden Mulilo appreciated the efforts being undertaken in the country to treat and prevent fistula and said: “Pakistan is one of our leading partners in the global campaign to end fistula. We want to extend this partnership further by making Koohi Goth general hospital (in Karachi) a centre of excellence for fistula management, education and training in the region.”

Expert says 4,000 to 5,000 cases of fistula reported yearly in Pakistan

He called for greater collaboration to meet the target of ending obstetric fistula by 2030 under the UN goals. “We must break the silence over the tragedy affecting an estimated two million women in the developing countries. In Pakistan, 4,000 to 5,000 cases of fistula are yearly reported. We can prevent this tragedy by ensuring access to quality maternal and child health services.”

UNFPA Project Manager Dr Sajjad Siddiqui explained that the Koohi Goth Hospital was already serving as a training centre for fistula management for health professionals from all over Pakistan. “We are expecting that the hospital will start operating as a regional centre for fistula education and training from September this year. Healthcare providers from Nepal, Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Sri Lanka will come here for training,” he said, adding that a standard curriculum was being developed that would be shared with all regional partner countries.

Currently, the UNFPA is running nine treatment centres for fistula across Pakistan, three of them are in Sindh, he said.

Published in Dawn, May 24th, 2025