ISLAMABAD – Obstetric fistula, one of the most devastating childbirth injuries known to medicine, continues to haunt women in Pakistan and across the world, despite being entirely preventable and treatable, the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) warned on the International Day to End Obstetric Fistula.
The condition develops when women endure prolonged obstructed labor without timely medical intervention, or suffer injuries during obstetric or gynecological surgeries. The result is catastrophic: permanent incontinence, severe physical trauma, emotional breakdown, and social isolation, with many women abandoned by families and communities.
UNFPA emphasized a stark reality, no woman should suffer life-altering injury simply for giving life.
Globally, around 500,000 women and girls are still living with obstetric fistula, even as sustained international efforts have helped reduce cases. Between 2003 and 2025, UNFPA supported more than 153,000 fistula repair surgeries worldwide, signaling progress but also exposing the scale of unfinished work.
In Pakistan, the crisis is even more alarming. Fistula disproportionately affects vulnerable women, particularly adolescents, due to gaps in access to quality maternal healthcare.
A disturbing 70% of cases in Pakistan are caused by surgical injuries (iatrogenic fistula), a figure that points directly to systemic weaknesses in surgical safety, obstetric care, and medical training.
Health experts warn that without urgent reform in emergency obstetric services and surgical standards, preventable injuries will continue to devastate lives.
In response, UNFPA Pakistan has established a Regional Center of Excellence for fistula care, training, and innovation at Koohi Goth Hospital in Karachi, now serving as a national referral hub.
The facility is capable of treating around 800 women annually, with an impressive 96% surgical success rate. But treatment goes far beyond surgery, survivors receive psychosocial counseling, literacy education, and vocational training aimed at restoring dignity and enabling reintegration into society.
The center has also trained surgeons from countries including Bangladesh, Nepal, and Afghanistan, positioning Pakistan as a regional leader in fistula treatment and medical capacity-building.
UNFPA Pakistan has also scaled up prevention efforts, conducting more than 5,000 competency-based trainings and building a network of 23 specialized surgeons, supported by trained nurses and anesthetists.
It continues to invest in safe pelvic surgery workshops for young doctors nationwide, aiming to reduce the growing burden of surgically induced fistula cases.
Beyond the human suffering, fistula carries a heavy economic cost. Globally, untreated cases are estimated to drain nearly US$691 million each year in lost productivity alone.
Experts say this makes fistula not just a health emergency, but also an economic and development crisis.
UNFPA says the solution is already known: prevent fistula through universal access to quality maternal healthcare and strengthened surgical training, and treat existing cases through timely repair, rehabilitation, and efforts to eliminate stigma.
Pakistan, the agency stressed, already has the expertise, partnerships, and infrastructure needed to eliminate the condition. What remains missing is sustained investment and national urgency.
As the world marks the International Day to End Obstetric Fistula, the message is clear, a preventable condition continues to destroy lives — and ending it is no longer a question of knowledge, but of political will.
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