The third season of the special athletics experience in support of women that suffer from serious cases of fistula will be flagged off in Arusha on May 26, 2024 attracting over 700 runners.
According to Doreen Moshi the chairperson of the Fistula Marathon, Tanzania experiences around 3000 new cases of fistula that gets reported in the country every year. More than 15,000 others go unreported.
“Only about 1300 lady victims in the country manage to access treatment,” said Moshi adding that the philanthropic marathon is out to ensure that all women ailing from Fistula get medical attention in time.
The Country Director of Maternity Africa, Michael Hynds, said the money raised from the race ensures that surgery and medical care are provided free of charge to the victims.
Patients are also assisted with free transport and accommodation throughout the time of treatment at the Kivulini Maternity Center of Ngaramtoni in Arusha.
The racing event, which is coordinated by Maternity Africa through the Kivulini Maternity Centre, comes in the form of the flagship 21 kilometers half-marathon essentially to raise awareness of the problem affecting local women.
Race organizer Isaac Shayo described other races in the forthcoming Fistula Marathon as a 10 kilometers marathon and a five-kilometers run, all of which are open for everybody to participate.
The main marathon gets flagged off from Magereza grounds in the outskirts of Arusha City on 26 May 2024 with runners expected to follow the East Africa by-pass route all the way to Azimio and down to Majengo before linking to Arusha-Makuyuni road, back to the starting point.
International athletics star, Alphonse Simbu who is the race envoy appealed to all runners to participate in the event because that is a humanitarian move towards supporting the community.
“I encourage all sports men and women to turn up in large numbers to support the event,” stated Simbu.
According to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) there are more than 20,000 women that are currently suffering from serious cases of maternity fistula in Tanzania.
“Out of those there are only 1300 victims who manage to access medical treatment which means more than 1000 women continue to suffer in silence, despite the disease being treatable through surgery,” pointed out Dr Moshi.
Maternity Africa is a non-profit, non-government and health-based organization founded in 2018, which helps vulnerable and marginalized women and girls give birth safely.
The facility also provides free medical services to fistula victims.
Speaking on behalf of the Arusha District Medical Officer, Dr Esther Luhunga admitted that fistula was a problem in the precinct and usually causes the victims to be neglected and suffer from stigma in addition to the usual pain.