Teenage pregnancy has been identified as one of the factors that contribute largely to the high number of fistula cases in Bungoma County.County Executive Committee (CEC) member for Health and Sanitation Dr Andrew Wamalwa says that last year there were about 13,000 cases of teenage pregnancies reported in the area, most of which involved girls between the ages of 10 to 19 years.He pointed out that female genital mutilation, malnutrition, abortion, home deliveries, and sexual gender-based violence as the other causes of the condition and called for concerted efforts by stakeholders and the community to curb these practices in the area.Dr Wamalwa was speaking at Webuye County Hospital during a five-day screening and treatment of the Fistula condition.The exercise which saw 40 surgeries done and 268 screening cases carried out for patients was jointly organised by Mpesa Foundation, Royal Media Services, The Flying Doctors' Society of Africa and AMREF, in partnership with the County Government of Bungoma.The Deputy Governor Bungoma County Jennifer Mbatiany lauded the efforts of the various stakeholders in putting in place interventions for the treatment of Fistula saying many women had suffered due to lack of information and treatment.She said that such interventions geared towards treatment and screening of the condition would bring an end to the stigma occasioned by the condition where patients experience leakage of urine and other body waste without control.The Deputy Governor said that the County Government had put in place measures to sensitise pupils and teenage girls in general about the consequences of early pregnancies that she said interfered with their normal lives.Patients who underwent the screening and surgery thanked the organisers and sponsors of the exercise saying they were now able to live normal lives in society.Source: Kenya News Agency