The WHO yesterday said that it wanted a code of conduct to bar medical workers from performing female genital mutilation (FGM).
Issuing fresh guidelines on how to halt FGM, the UN health agency highlighted the important role played by health professionals in detecting the widely condemned practice and supporting survivors, but it said there was evidence to suggest that health workers in several parts of the world were themselves often called upon to perform the procedure, rather than it being done by local communities.
“Female genital mutilation is a severe violation of girls’ rights and critically endangers their health,” said Pascale Allotey, the WHO’s head of sexual and reproductive health and research.
Photo: AFP
“Health workers must be agents for change rather than perpetrators of this harmful practice, and must also provide high quality medical care for those suffering its effects,” she said.
FGM involves the partial or total removal of the female external genitalia or other injuries to the female genital organs. It can lead to serious health problems, including infections, bleeding, infertility and complications in childbirth.
An estimated 230 million girls and women have undergone FGM, according to UN Women, with the practice typically carried out on young girls before they reach puberty.
Significant effort has gone into halting the traumatic and painful procedure, which is linked to cultural norms and has no health benefits.
The WHO said since 1990, the likelihood of a girl undergoing the procedure has decreased threefold.
However, it remains common in about 30 nations, with about 4 million girls remaining at risk each year, it said.
The UN health agency said the medicalization of FGM risked “unintentionally legitimizing the practice,” thereby jeopardizing efforts to root it out.
It called in its new guidelines for professional codes of conduct that expressly prohibit health workers from performing FGM.
It also said that there is a “need to positively engage and train health workers for prevention.”
“Research shows that health workers can be influential opinion leaders in changing attitudes on FGM,” said Christina Pallitto, a WHO scientist who led the development of the new guidelines. “Engaging doctors, nurses and midwives should be a key element in FGM prevention and response.”
In addition to prevention, the new guidelines include clinical recommendations to help ensure that FGM victims receive empathetic and high-quality medical care.
Highlighting the large variety of short and long-term health issues caused by the practice, the WHO said: “Survivors may need a range of health services at different life stages, from mental healthcare to management of obstetric risks and, where appropriate, surgical repairs.”
BACKLASH: The National Party quit its decades-long partnership with the Liberal Party after their election loss to center-left Labor, which won a historic third term Australia’s National Party has split from its conservative coalition partner of more than 60 years, the Liberal Party, citing policy differences over renewable energy and after a resounding loss at a national election this month. “Its time to have a break,” Nationals leader David Littleproud told reporters yesterday. The split shows the pressure on Australia’s conservative parties after Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s center-left Labor party won a historic second term in the May 3 election, powered by a voter backlash against US President Donald Trump’s policies. Under the long-standing partnership in state and federal politics, the Liberal and National coalition had shared power
NO EXCUSES: Marcos said his administration was acting on voters’ demands, but an academic said the move was emotionally motivated after a poor midterm showing Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr yesterday sought the resignation of all his Cabinet secretaries, in a move seen as an attempt to reset the political agenda and assert his authority over the second half of his single six-year term. The order came after the president’s allies failed to win a majority of Senate seats contested in the 12 polls on Monday last week, leaving Marcos facing a divided political and legislative landscape that could thwart his attempts to have an ally succeed him in 2028. “He’s talking to the people, trying to salvage whatever political capital he has left. I think it’s
CONTROVERSY: During the performance of Israel’s entrant Yuval Raphael’s song ‘New Day Will Rise,’ loud whistles were heard and two people tried to get on stage Austria’s JJ yesterday won the Eurovision Song Contest, with his operatic song Wasted Love triumphing at the world’s biggest live music television event. After votes from national juries around Europe and viewers from across the continent and beyond, JJ gave Austria its first victory since bearded drag performer Conchita Wurst’s 2014 triumph. After the nail-biting drama as the votes were revealed running into yesterday morning, Austria finished with 436 points, ahead of Israel — whose participation drew protests — on 357 and Estonia on 356. “Thank you to you, Europe, for making my dreams come true,” 24-year-old countertenor JJ, whose
Polish presidential candidates offered different visions of Poland and its relations with Ukraine in a televised debate ahead of next week’s run-off, which remains on a knife-edge. During a head-to-head debate lasting two hours, centrist Warsaw Mayor Rafal Trzaskowski, from Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s governing pro-European coalition, faced the Eurosceptic historian Karol Nawrocki, backed by the right-wing populist Law and Justice party (PiS). The two candidates, who qualified for the second round after coming in the top two places in the first vote on Sunday last week, clashed over Poland’s relations with Ukraine, EU policy and the track records of their
RSS