The burden of health associated with benign gynecological disorders in low-resource settings

Benign gynecological conditions impact on women's lives in a myriad of ways. Many of these conditions exert their burden on women's health because they remain undiagnosed, unacknowledged, or unreported for many years. Some of these conditions cause debilitating primary symptoms, especially of heavy menstrual bleeding, the lethargy of iron deficiency, and of persistent pelvic pain, with substantial impact on quality of life and ability to function on a day-to-day basis. The distressing quality of life impact of pelvic floor prolapse or of local vulval lesions should not be overlooked. Many also have secondary health consequences with adverse effects on fertility and reproductive outcome. (c) 2012 International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.