Infertility in women increasing

By VERONICA FRANCIS
AN increasing number of local women suffer from infertility, Prof Glen Mola says.
He said the most common causes of infertility in women here were: 
* Tubal damage from sexually transmitted infections (STI) such as gonorrhoea and chlamydia; 
* Ovulatory problems from being obese, particularly in urban areas; and 
* Endometriosis.
Mola, the obstetrics and gynaecology specialist at the school of medicine and health sciences at the University of Papua New Guinea, said men suffered infertility as well from tubal damage from gonorrhoea and chlamydia and that diabetes could affect a man’s potency.
Mola said people having sex early in life without using protection (condoms) suffered increased infertility from STI caused by tubal damage.
He said this was particularly prevalent in the highlands and urban areas.
He said there was a high rate of infertility in Papua New Guinea as a result of complications of STIs.
“Infertility among women in PNG is one of the major causes of mar­riage break-ups and domestic violence,” a women’s leader from Chimbu said recently.
She said many marriages failed because women were unable to bear children.
“Regardless of whether it is the husband who is infertile, the blame still falls on the woman because it is deemed her responsibility and role in society to bear children,” she said.
She said this trend was common everywhere in the country but especially in the Highlands region where women who bore children were respected and regarded as real women.
“Nowadays many women face marital problems because of this and I believe there needs to be effective awareness carried out so that if women have health issues it can be detected at an early stage and treated to avoid such problems in their married lives,” she said.
She said infertility occurred in men and women and it was time men realised that.