Women Donate Cash To VVF Centre, Medical Facilities To Hospital In A'Ibom

Women under the aegis of Akwa Ibom Women Initiative (AIWA) based in Atlanta, Georgia in USA, have donated cash of N350,000 to the Family Life Centre/Vesico-Vaginal Fistula (VVF) Hospital, Mbribit Itam in Itu Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom.
   The group has also donated sets of medical facilities worth over N2 million to equip the maternity unit of Cottage Hospital, Okoroete in Eastern Obolo Local Government Area of the state.
   Presenting the cash to the VVF Hospital on Tuesday, a founding member of AIWA, Dr. Umo Ekanem, said that the women were delighted to be associated with the humanitarian work done at the centre.
   Ekanem said that the group would continue to support the centre to meet the needs of the less privileged especially women facing life-threatening condition like vesico-vaginal fistula and recto-vaginal fistula.
   She commended the management of the VVF centre for the care and specialized treatment given to the women, whose organs had been damaged during prolonged obstructed labour in childbirth leading to leakage of urine and feaces.
   Responding, the matron in-charge of the Family Life Centre/VVF Hospital, Rev. Sister Sylvia Ndubuaka, thanked the women group for supporting the centre in the care of the less privileged women, noting that the gesture was the second time the centre had received the support from the group.
   "We are happy, when we get help, we are a faith-based organisation (FBO). In 2019, the Akwa Ibom State Government pulled out its staff members that used to work here.
   "We treat people free of charge, especially those who do not have any help, sometimes these women are abandoned because of leakage of urine and feaces, Ndubuaka said.
    The matron added that the centre usually carried out surgeries and reconstructed damaged vaginal tracts and bladder in women in addition to the provision of skills for them to have livelihood after treatment.
   At the Cottage Hospital, Okoroete in Eastern Obolo Local Government Area, AIWA representative, Dr Nsekpong Udoh, said that the medical facilities donated by the group was meant for the maternity unit of the hospital.
   Udoh disclosed that the facilities were items identified as lacking during need assessment carried by AIWA some time ago in the hospital.
   She expressed the hope that the items would be used judiciously by the hospital to give expectant mothers succour and reduce incidents of infant and maternal death.
   Receiving the medical items on behalf of management, the hospital secretary, Mr Edward Josiah, thanked the women for their kind gesture.
   Josiah said that the hospital was delighted to receive the facilities to help equip the maternity unit and preserve lives in the area.