400,000 suffer from infertility in Azerbaijan - expert
By Nigar Orujova
The number of infertility afflicted people, most of whom are men, has reached 400,000 in Azerbaijan -- a country with the population of over 9 million, a senior researcher said Thursday.
According to the World Health Organization, there are two types of infertility, which is the inability to conceive a child. Primary infertility occurs in a couple who have never had a child, while secondary infertility is failure to conceive following a previous pregnancy.
Infertility, whether primary or secondary, is defined as one year of attempting to become pregnant without success.
Infertility affects men and women equally and may be caused by infection, but often there is no obvious underlying cause.
"The figure is big in comparison with other countries," says Faiza Aliyeva, head of the Scientific Research Institute of Obstetrics and Gynecology. "Azerbaijan needs only 32,000 donors at the moment, which is not much for the country. About a thousand women a year go for artificial insemination."
According to Aliyeva, artificial insemination has been conducted in Azerbaijan since 2004, and notwithstanding the short period of time that has passed, more success in this area has been achieved than in some other countries.
Some 40-45 percent of those deciding to undergo artificial insemination in Azerbaijan reach positive results, while in Europe the number of successful inseminations is 30-35 percent, Aliyeva said.
The issues of infertility as well as artificial insemination are reflected in a reproductive health bill, which has been sent back by the parliamentary committee on social policy to be reworked.
According to the committee member Malahat Ibrahimgizi, infertility afflicted and families in need of special social care will be provided with free of charge artificial insemination and fetus transplantation in state-run medical institutions under the reproductive health bill.
Notwithstanding the success of artificial insemination for infertility afflicted people, Health Ministry official Gulmirza Poladov said during Thursday's parliamentary committee sitting that promotion of artificial insemination may lead to dangerous side effects.
According to Poladov, artificial insemination is possible for women aged 30 and older who have suffered from infertility for more than ten years.
Poladov stressed that there are currently about 500 private medical institutions in Azerbaijan but suggested that in the initial stage, such surgeries be conducted only in state-run hospitals.
According to Hadi Rajably, chairman of the parliamentary committee on social policy, 300,000 to 400,000 manats ($382,000 to $510,000) a year are needed to enforce relevant legislation, and this amount should be envisioned in the 2013 state budget.