WHO: doctors should be prepared for complications after surgeries that mutilate female genitalia

The WHO has developed a series of recommendations for health workers that will help improve the quality of medical care for millions of women, girls and young women who have undergone serious non-medical operations on the genitals. According to the WHO, such mutilating operations are still carried out in a number of African and Asian countries, in the Middle East. The practice of partial or complete removal of female genitalia is harmful not only to women, but also to their offspring. Among the many complications, one can highlight bleeding, problems with urination, the risk of cysts, infection, death, in addition, the likelihood of complications during childbirth and stillbirth increases.

The WHO notes that the practice of performing female mutilation operations has become a global problem, and one of the reasons for this is international migration.

Today, doctors anywhere in the world must be prepared to provide assistance to women, girls and girls who have undergone such operations. Unfortunately, not all doctors are aware of the severe consequences for women's health after such operations and are unable to provide full medical care to such women. All this leads to the fact that girls and women suffer not only from physical but also psychological consequences after operations that mutilate the genitals, and health workers can and should help such patients. Doctors must learn to recognize and treat complications in women after such surgeries. According to WHO Assistant Director-General Flavia Bustero, doctors should be properly prepared for such situations, which will prevent new cases of mutilation operations and help millions of women who have already become victims of cruel customs.

For almost 20 years, there has been a concerted effort to eliminate female genital mutilation, including research, community outreach, legal review, and increased political support to eliminate the brutal practice. In addition, resolutions have been issued that strongly condemn non-medical female genital mutilation and female circumcision.

The latest WHO recommendations note the importance of providing quality care to women who have undergone genital surgery, in particular the prevention and treatment of birth complications, depressive and anxiety disorders, and consultations regarding women's sexual health. The WHO also emphasizes that it is equally important to conduct information and awareness-raising work among doctors to prevent the practice of doctors performing such operations, for example, at the request of the girl's parents or relatives.

Six years ago, WHO, UNICEF, and UNFPA developed a strategy to eliminate such practices, including a strategy to eliminate the practice of female genital mutilation by health workers. According to experts, it is necessary to develop appropriate rules of conduct for health workers, which will contain specific instructions on how to act in the event of a request from a girl's parents, relatives, or the woman herself to perform a mutilation operation (in Sudan, the practice of stitching the labia after childbirth or among widows is widespread, often at the request of the woman herself).

WHO also stressed the need for additional research in this area to improve the quality of medical care for women who have undergone genital mutilation. New facts about such operations can also help the health community conduct better information work regarding risks to women's health and contribute to the elimination of such practices.