Women who come to Rolpa Hospital as patients do not want to talk about their uterine problems. But when they have severe problems, only half of the women talk about their problems.

Doctors at the hospital say, ‘Women do not tell the truth about their problems because they are embarrassed about menstruation, uterine problems, and sexual problems.’

Dr. Niraj Gharti Magar, a doctor at Rolpa Hospital, said that only a few of the female patients who come to the hospital tell their specific problems. ‘There is a habit of enduring the pain until there is a big problem.’ Another problem is that they come to the hospital only when it is too much. In doing so, some infectious diseases are already bothering them more,’ he said. According to him, although sexually transmitted diseases in women bother them internally, patients have little knowledge about ways to prevent infection. Especially, there is very little knowledge about wounds in the uterus and their treatment. If the initial scar of the uterus is not treated, there is a high chance of cancer. Dr. Gharti Magar believes that if patients with uterine scars can tell their problems in time, treatment will be faster. He says, ‘Even if there is a small problem, treatment is easier if you come to the hospital and tell your specific problem. If you get treatment under the care of a specialist, cancer can be prevented. Everyone needs to be aware of this.’

But among the patients who come to the hospital, the number of women who got married at a young age, gave birth at a young age, and had multiple abortions is high. Women who got married and gave birth 20 years ago have been found to have problems with uterine infections. Dr. Gharti Magar, who has been conducting initial examinations of women with such problems at Rolpa Hospital, said that if they get tested before cancer develops in the uterus, the uterus can be kept healthy. According to the doctor, the VIA test (a simple and inexpensive test for early detection of cervical cancer) can prevent cervical infections. According to the Health Office Rolpa, it is given annually to identify and treat women with cervical problems. A program to help treat cervical cancer and breast cancer in women is also being run in the district.

Arun Vitu Upadhyay, Information Officer of the Health Office, said that in the current fiscal year, 369 women aged 30 to 49 and 113 women aged 50 and above who are suspected of having cervical cancer have been tested. Of these, 6 have been found to have the infection. Similarly, 353 women under 40, 122 women aged 40 to 70 and 6 women aged 70 and above have been tested for suspected breast cancer. 480 patients with obstetric fistula, a problem that occurs when labor pains are not treated on time (obstetric fistula), have also been examined. Of these, 3 underwent surgery.

The biggest problem is uterine or uterine prolapse. 574 women with uterine prolapse were examined, and 103 were found to be suffering from the fourth stage of the problem. Information Officer Upadhyay said that all of them were treated with a ring. One had to undergo surgery.

Free camp

After uterine problems were observed in women in the village, a free health camp was organized at the health post in Nuwagaun, western Rolpa, on April 4. Of the 155 women who underwent health examinations in the camp, most were found to have uterine infections.

Lok Bahadur Dangi, the president of Nuwagaun Sana Kisan Agricultural Cooperative Society in Triveni Rural Municipality-2, said that the camp had to be organized after receiving information about the problems of women. According to him, 155 women who underwent free check-ups at the women's health camp were happy. He said, 'It was discovered that many women were hiding their diseases. Many women's uterine and stomach diseases were detected.'