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Over 750 patients abandoned in Kaduna State

    ABIDJAN

    More than 750 victims of vesico vaginal fistula (VVF) have been abandoned by their relatives in Nigeria’s northern state of Kaduna, ‘Vanguard’ daily reported on Thursday, citing medical sources.

    VVF, a condition common in underage women who have undergone pregnancy, leaves its victims unable to control passage of urine and faeces. It is widespread in northern Nigeria due to a high preponderance of underage girls being forced into marriage by their families.

    Sani Hassan, of the Department of Community Health at the Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital, Zaria, which takes cares for VVF patients, was reported as saying that many of the patients rejected by their husbands or families had taken up menial jobs in the town and earning, on average, 50 naira (US $0.44) a day.

    This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions

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