Infertility Treatment in Developing Countries
The European Society for Human Reproduction and Embryology (ESHRE) will announce in late March a program to provide infertility treatment to women in developing countries. These services will be offered in conjunction with family planning, prenatal and women’s health services for new mothers.
The drive to provide infertility treatment to all women is part of the larger effort to recognize reproductive rights as a basic human right that began with the International Conference on Population and Development held in Cairo in 1994. This effort was bolstered by a number of international agreements such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and a host of other international covenants and conventions.
Although providing infertility services in countries with high birth rates and poverty seems counterintuitive, the effort to establish a woman’s reproductive rights is part of the overall objective of raising the economic and social status of women. This, in turn, should result in better family planning and investment in children and families. One fifth of people in developing countries express an interest in family planning and over time birth rates have an inverse relationship with per capita income.
Infertility is a serious social problem in developing countries. The incidence of infertility is also higher in these countries, up to one third of the population in parts of Africa. It is not uncommon in the developing world for there to be a severe stigma attached to infertility because of traditional society expectations and the fact that children are often viewed as vital to family productivity and the care of elders. In the developing world infertile women (or women in infertile relationships in which they might not be the cause) suffer from social ostracism, disinheritance, divorce and even violence. In parts of India 70% of infertile women report being punished by family members and 20% report being the victims of violence. Reproductive rights constitute a significant part of raising the status of women.
The drive to provide infertility treatment to all women is part of the larger effort to recognize reproductive rights as a basic human right that began with the International Conference on Population and Development held in Cairo in 1994. This effort was bolstered by a number of international agreements such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and a host of other international covenants and conventions.
Although providing infertility services in countries with high birth rates and poverty seems counterintuitive, the effort to establish a woman’s reproductive rights is part of the overall objective of raising the economic and social status of women. This, in turn, should result in better family planning and investment in children and families. One fifth of people in developing countries express an interest in family planning and over time birth rates have an inverse relationship with per capita income.
Infertility is a serious social problem in developing countries. The incidence of infertility is also higher in these countries, up to one third of the population in parts of Africa. It is not uncommon in the developing world for there to be a severe stigma attached to infertility because of traditional society expectations and the fact that children are often viewed as vital to family productivity and the care of elders. In the developing world infertile women (or women in infertile relationships in which they might not be the cause) suffer from social ostracism, disinheritance, divorce and even violence. In parts of India 70% of infertile women report being punished by family members and 20% report being the victims of violence. Reproductive rights constitute a significant part of raising the status of women.
posted by Kathleen, Contributing Editor at
7:43 PM
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