Nigerian women shoulder the cost of surgery and contraception as the government prioritises other health programmes. Women of African descent are four times more likely to have uterine fibroids. Although many of these cases are asymptomatic and undiagnosed,publishedestimates say black women face a higher lifetime risk of up to 80% by age 50 globally.
These high-risk factors are linked to genetics, hormones, and delay in care during the first five years of diagnosis. Yet in Nigeria, the most populous black nation on earth, with nearly half the population women, are unable to access the healthcare needed for this condition. Uterine fibroids are benign tumours that affect the female reproductive system andare “curable” by myomectomy, the surgical removal of the tumour from the uterine wall to preserve fertility.
An expensive and emotionally draining decision for many women to make, especially because it is not a guaranteed solution for the problem. The only absolute cure for fibroids is hysterectomy, the surgical removal of the womb. Depending on their size, number and location, the symptoms of fibroids are complicated and dangerous.
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It often presents— and this is not an exhaustive list— as heavy/painful periods, heavy bleeding between periods, which often causes patients to become anaemic, pelvic pressure and constant urination, constipation and abdominal enlargement, pain during sex, and infertility. Although fibroid surgeries have become relatively safer today, with a low 0.2% mortality rate, with improved medical knowledge and non-invasive options such as uterine fibroid embolisation (UFE). There are no assurances that fibroids, once surgically removed, will not return.
Many women have undergone multiple surgeries for recurrent fibroids. Doctor Emeka Igbodike, co-author of the surgical report on fibroids,“Giant “Hydra Headed” Fibroid in a Nullipara”and an obstetrician-gyneacologist (OB-GYN) who has performed multiple fibroid surgeries in Nigeria and in United States, says that there is possibility of recurrence of fibroids tumours in about three to 27% of cases depending on a few factors such as the woman’s age and whether the fibroid nodules found are more than three. “In fact, for every one Caucasian worldwide, up to four to nine African women have uterine fibroids.
That’s how common it is with us [Africans].” Public healthcare in Africa is challenging. In fact, this is where international donors and grants are most prominent and efficient. Thepublic health sector was the most hitwith the withdrawal of USAID and the reduction of global aid funds, but before the global aid cuts, there was always disproportionatecarefor female reproductive health.
Most never suffer fibroid symptoms and only discover them during routine pelvic exams. High costs, weak policy, and fear keep fibroid care out of reach In Nigeria, for instance, uterine fibroids affect nearly 80% of women of reproductive age. It was a surgery with recurrent casualty rates, mostly due to medical negligence, and even now, with more news of deaths in 2025, women still consider it a death sentence.
In most cases, their complaints are dismissed by medical professionals, leading to years of inattentive care and misdiagnosis. Today, although safer, uterine fibroid surgeries are very expensive. There is also a lack of data and supporting information for women to make informed choices about their treatment.
Women in Nigeria are the poorest demographic, earning less than a dollar on average, yet there is no national health policy guiding or subsidising the cost of uterine fibroid care. Amanda Chinedu still remembers her friend and roommate, Jessica*. They both served as missionaries under the Youth With A Mission (YWAM) in Port Harcourt, Nigeria.
Jessica suffered increasingly painful periods and heavy bleeding that would cause days of pain and agony, unable to work or even experience a healthy quality of life in a country where the quality of life isprecariously low. Unable to access safe and affordable healthcare when she needed it, she was eventually operated upon, during the COVID-19 pandemic, without any anaesthesia, and died.
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