Infertility global challenge, in Italy 8,000 cancer patients and 15% of couples affected
The University of Pavia has set up a master's course with the aim of providing solid skills in the field of clinical and experimental embryology
Key points
The World Health Organisation has defined infertility as a pathology that afflicts 15% of couples of reproductive age (60 thousand new cases per year in Italy). In addition to this, there are cancer patients of childbearing age (8 thousand per year in Italy), both men and women, undergoing gonadotoxic treatments that can cause infertility.
A university master's degree in infertility in Pavia
The University of Pavia has envisaged a Master's degree programme with the aim of providing solid skills in the field of clinical and experimental embryology and applied bioinformatics and bioengineering sciences.
The initiative is part of a rapidly changing demographic context. In Italy, women become mothers for the first time on average at the age of 33.8 and the average number of children per woman is 1.18. A picture that not only represents a socio-medical emergency, but also has significant economic implications. The relevance of the issue is also confirmed at international level. The World Health Organisation considers infertility to be a global challenge and emphasises the need for integrated responses, from timely information to the prevention of risk factors, to access to diagnostic services and psychological support.
Medically assisted reproduction on the rise
A current market analysis notes that according to the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology and the Istituto Superiore di Sanità's Medical Assisted Reproduction (PMA) registry, more than 1,300 PMA clinics are active in Europe, 300 of which are in Italy alone.
In the USA, one out of every 60 babies is born thanks to PMA techniques.
