TASK FORCES // DEVELOPING COUNTRIES AND INFERTILITY //
Working groups make progress, but project funding still proves a major challenge The Task Force’s future activities were discussed at the annual meeting in Amsterdam last year, with proposals finalised from Working Group 1 on the diagnostic phase of our project for accessible infertility services. As the coordinator of Working Group 3 (low cost laboratory) Jonathan Van Blerkom presented his view on how to organise the training of laboratory staff making use of ‘images’ rather than conducting a classical training course for IVF technicians. In addition, Carine Huyser presented her view on semen decontamination in sub-Saharan Africa and reported on the mechanisms for monitoring HIV in resource-strained settings by using rapid HIV and automated screening tests; and Claude Ranoux described the latest developments and preliminary results with the INVOcell intravaginal culturing system. Frank Van Balen highlighted the future activities of the Study Group, which is dealing with the socio-cultural and ethical aspects of childlessness in developing countries. His group organised a precongress meeting (before an ESHRE Campus workshop on artificial nsemination in Genk in December) at which the following were discussed with a group of 15 experts: education on infertility, the specific problems and hurdles associated with male infertility in developing countries, role of traditional healers, infertility care in relation to other health care priorities in these areas, how to assess the planned pilot projects (including information to couples),and assessment of treatment and follow-up after successful and unsuccessful treatment. In Amsterdam Ian Cooke also presented a very interesting education and training programme which will be a co-oporation between the British Fertility Society and IFFS, and at the end of the meeting the difficulties and opportunities for fundraising were discussed. The difficulties of funding To find funding for our project remains very difficult. The question of infertility care in poor-resource settings is (mostly) poorly understood by the directors of foundations and governmental organisations. Developing countries are still too much associated with over-population, family planning and ‘more urgent priorities’. In our search to find a budget sufficient to start our project, many different sources have already been tried, with varying degrees of success. Nevertheless, we will continue in our efforts to convince policymakers, governmental organisations and NGOs to support our project. 24
Preparing the next steps of the Arusha project: from left to right, Willem Ombelet, Carine Huyser and Jonathan Van Blerkom.
An ESHRE session at FIGO 2009 The importance of fertility care in developing countries was the subject of an ESHRE session at the FIGO congress in Cape Town in October. Speakers Silke Dyer (ZA), Oluwole Akande (NG), Fernando Zegers-Hochschild (CL) and Willem Ombelet (BE) stressed the importance of infertility care in developing countries with an emphasis on the psychological and socio-cultural aspects of childlessness in these regions and the importance of documentation, registration and quality control after implementing accessible infertility services. The meeting was followed by a very interactive and stimulating discussion with many fertility specialists and others from many different continents. Pre-congress course Rome The Task Force is jointly organising a precongress meeting in Rome (with the SIG Safety & Quality in ART) on the subject of patient-centered fertility care. The programme of the meeting is now finalsied and can be found on the ESHRE website. The main topics will be mild stimulation and IVF, lifestyle factors and infertility, infertility related stress in men and women and the patient’s view on couplefriendly ART. Willem Ombelet Co-ordinator STF Developing Countries and Infertility
Focus on Reproduction January 2010