Armenia to start testing teenage girls for infertility
In Armenia, girls will be tested for infertility starting in their teens, and given treatment when necessary.
On March 5, Minister of Health Arsen Torosyan proposed an intermediate program to support reproductive health. Torosyan says that early diagnosis and treatment can help prevent the development of certain diseases associated with infertility.
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The infertility rate in Armenia is 14.8%, a relatively high number for a small country.
“The World Health Organization says that if the country’s infertility rate reaches 15%, the situation would be considered critical, as it affects birth rate and population. Therefore, we are doing everything we can to lower this number,” says Gayane Avakyan, head of the Department of Maternal and Reproductive Health at the Ministry of Health.
There is a proposal to increase the number of prenatal checkups, as well as health check ups for couples.
These measures are expected to increase the 2020 birth rate in Armenia by several hundred children, and by 2021, to increase it by more than a thousand.
These measures are necessary because Armenia is experiencing a demographic crisis. The UN forecast shows that the country is gradually approaching depopulation, when the mortality rate exceeds the birth rate.
