Abstract

PIP: Efforts were made to identify factors responsible for the pattern of high infertility and high pregnancy wastage in Cameroon. High spontaneous abortion rates, the relative frequency of illegal abortion, and poor delivery practices were probably responsible for complications which lead to secondary infertility among a large number of Cameroon women. At the infertility Clinic of the University of Yaounde among the 388 patients seen over a 2 year period 40% had primary infertility and 60% had secondary infertility. 26.8% of the former and 32.8% of the latter had evidence of pelvic pathology. A clinical case control study of puerperal infection led to the conclusion that the prevalence of gonorrhoea in the general population was high and that further research was needed to determine the extent to which gonorrhoea contributed toward infertility in Cameroon. Pelvic tuberculosis may also be responsible for the high infertility rates in Cameroon. Some investigators have found pelvic tuberculosis in 5%-25% of their patients. An examination of tecticular biopsies from men with sperm counts of less than 20 million/ml lead to the suggestion that parasitic filarial infection may play a role in oligospermia. Considerable research is needed to identify and assess the role of these many factors contributing to both pregnancy wastage and to infertility. Until the problem of infertility in sub-Saharan countries is adequately dealt with, efforts to promote family planning will be viewed as irrelevant by many.