VietNamNet Bridge – There are 700,000 to one million couples in the reproductive age are infertile, according to research conducted by the Central Obstetrics Hospital and the Hanoi Medical University.

In Vietnam, the birth rate has dropped steadily over the past two decades.

According to the General Department of Population and Family Planning, it took other countries in the world decades to shift from a young population to an aging one, but it took only three years (2005-2008) for Vietnam.

Vietnam’s population has steadily increased every year but in the future, Vietnam will face a significant shortage of people.

The studies by the Central Obstetrics Hospital and the Hanoi Medical University with the participation of over 14,300 couples of reproductive age in eight provinces, representing eight ecological zones of Vietnam, showed that the rate of infertile couples is 7.7 percent.

Thus, it is estimated that there are from 700,000 to one million infertile couples in Vietnam.

A survey of fertility awareness in the Asia-Pacific region in 2012 by Merck Serono (affiliate of the Merck KGaA Darmstadt pharmaceutical corporation of Germany) of 1,000 women in 10 countries also noted the knowledge gaps of many women about reproduction. In Vietnam and many Asian countries, before having children, couples are often not interested in medical checkups to detect and treat infertility early.

According to a survey by the Central Obstetrics Hospital and the Hanoi Medical University, 70% of women who failed to get pregnant after 6 months did not think about the possibility of infertility; 83% of women did not think that their husbands could be infertile; 85% of women desired to be a mother but lacked knowledge about reproductive health; 56% did not know that men could be infertile although they could produce sperm; 60% did not know that women without having a period were unable to have children. In particular, about 50% of infertile couples were under the age of 30.

Dr. Ho Manh Tuong from the National University of HCM City said that the drop in birth rate and the introduction of liberal lifestyles of many young people make the issue of abortion and infertility more important than ever before. One of the long-term complications of abortion is infertility.

Recent studies show that the infertility rate is increasing, particularly due to secondary factors, related to reproductive infections and diseases due to abortion among adolescents and young people.

On the other hand, women today tend to marry later and delay having children, which can also lead to an increase of infertility. The use of contaminated food, smoking, drinking and physical inactivity also affects the quality of men's sperm, leading to infertility.

Infertility treatments take a lot of time, up to five to seven years for most of cases.

Recently, in the field of infertility treatment, Vietnam’s health sector has had internationally-praised achievements. The country has taken the lead in the region for two treatment methodologies: farming eggs matured in vitro (IVM) and ovarian stimulation in patients with low weight.

Thanks to these approaches, the successful rate of in vitro fertilization in Vietnam is much higher than in other countries. As a result, many foreign patients come to Vietnam because of infertility problems.

Linh Thuy