One year after, Hon. Etombi Ikome Gladys is still sponsoring the treatment of VVF patients in the South West Region.

There is a sigh of relief among some women in Fako Division in particular and the South West in general as they continue to benefit from an altruistic initiative by Hon. Etombi Ikome Gladys, Member of Parliament, MP for Fako East Constituency.

Last year, she started sponsoring treatment for patients suffering from Versico-vaginal Fistulas, VVF or obstetric fistula, which is an abnormal after-birth medical complication whereby victims pass out urine uncontrollably.

She does not only sponsor, but also visits some of the female patients in hospital to ensure that treatment carried out by medical experts is effective.

Hon. Etombi told Cameroon Tribune that the initiative was a personal effort that kicked-off with her announcement on March 8, 2014, during the International Women’s Day celebrations.

She said screening started on March 25, 2014 and surgery began on April 1, 2014, and is still going on. “After surgery, patients remain in hospital for at least three weeks for follow-up and convalescence,” she revealed.

The treatment, which costs FCFA 300,000 per patient, includes drugs and surgery fees, amongst other bills. The free treatment project, she stated, involves women in her constituency and those of the South West Region as a whole.

The funds for the project, she stressed, are personal, not parliamentary grants. She urged women suffering from the condition not to be shy, but to come forward for treatment.

Hon. Etombi Ikome Gladys pledged that the initiative will continue throughout her parliamentary term. She called on sponsors to put hands on deck with her, "so that we can give back life to these women who are suffering. It is a means of reaching out to the underprivileged and needy affected women in the South West Region.”