Infertility in Rural Ethiopia

No Thumbnail Available

Date

1999-12

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Publisher

Addis Ababa University

Abstract

Infertility is a world-wide problem aff ecting 8-12% of married couples. The prevalence of infertility in some areas of the sub-Sahara region reaches as high as 30% . Muc h of the literature on infertility deals with the problems of infertility for wome n in the western countries and l ittle is known as to what puts women in sub-Sahara Africa v ulnerable to infertility and as to how perceive the causes o f infertility. A cross-sectional survey was conducted in rural Buta jira, Ethiopia, in the period between the 13th of May and 23 rd of June, 1999 to determine t he magnitude and potential risk factors of infertility. A total of 901 women in the age group 20 to 29 years were e nrolled into the study from s urveillance reg ister. The prevale nce of primary and secondary i nfertility was 2.9% a nd 16.1% respectively. Comparison was made between cases of secondary infertility and fertile women about potential risk factors. pregna ncy wastage, age at first marriage less than 16 years, STDs occurring after t he last pregnancy, polygamous marriage, and low level education of the husbands were found significantly associated with secondary i nferti lity. Most women with the problem of infertility in the area visit the witc h-craft , more often than the health institutions. It is recommended that public health officials must i ncrease the access to and strengthen programs aimi ng at the reduction of post-partum a nd post- abortal i nfections a nd STDs. Due attention should be given for developing and impleme nting protocols for evaluating and managing infertility.

Description

Keywords

Public Health

Citation

Collections