HYDERABAD, March 21: Health experts have said that the girls who married at a younger age are more likely to develop fistula at the time of delivery but the disease is curable.

The United Nations’ Population Welfare Wing representatives Dr. Sajjad and Dr. Nighat Shah said while speaking at a programme organised by Pakistan National Forum for Women Health at a local hotel on Tuesday that the wing had established health centres throughout the country for the treatment of fistula patients.

They said that the problem could not be resolved by increasing number of lady doctors but by creating awareness. Like lady health workers the women with knowledge of this disease should be appointed in every village to create awareness among women about fistula, they suggested.

Dr. Farkhanda informed that the wing had set up a health centre in Hyderabad which was working under the noted gynaecologist and obstetrician Dr. Pushpa Sirichand. Women who would report at the centres would not only be provided free medical treatment but would also be given free lodging and boarding, she said.

She said that 103 fistula patients had sought treatment at the centres between 2004 and 2006 and successful operations were performed in 90 per cent cases.