The ongoing conflict in Kashmir has not only taken a heavy toll on human lives, but is said to be the major reason for the increasing cases of infertility.
Late marriages, drug abuse are also cited as the other reasons.
According to medicos working in various hospitals, the numbers of infertility cases have increased at a very high pace.
“We register three cases of infertility on daily basis, which means 90 cases in a month and 1,080 cases in a year,” said a doctor at JVC Bemina.
Similarly at valley’s lone maternity Lal Ded hospital, the number is quite high.
A doctor in the hospital said the average cases reported will be between 2,500 to 3,000 per year, which is quite alarming.
A large number of infertility cases are also reported at private clinics which mostly remain undocumented.
“A Lot has been reported in media about it, but has fallen to deaf ears. Government should take the matter seriously and start some process to document the numbers. We have conflicting figures on it. A team needs to be constituted which can make the documentations of all the cases registered across the clinics and hospitals of the state,” said a medico, Dr Irshad Ahmed.
To conceive a child, more and more such couples who have married late are now switching to In Vitro Fertilization (IVF).
IVF is a technique where a sperm and an egg preferably from husband and wife are combined in a laboratory and then planted in the womb of the woman.
“The problems seen in men are erectile dysfunction, decreased libido, and decreased sperm count,” said a doctor at SKIMS.
He said half of the total infertility cases in Kashmir are due to a low sperm count and the reasons are ‘virtually unknown’.
Overuse of pleasure drugs are also believed to be the other reasons for infertility.
“The drugs are bought and sold secretly,” said a druggist, adding, drugs from countless manufacturers have become the new commodity.
Health experts and medicos say that most of the infertility cases are an outcome of PTSD – Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. The main reason for PTSD in Kashmir is conflict as almost in every family some horrific incidents have taken place, which have affected almost everyone in some way or the other.
A girl Sadia (name changed) is suffering from PTSD. Some ten years ago, a bomb had exploded in front of her. She had fallen unconscious. Though she had escaped unhurt, the shock was too much for her and has changed her life after marriage.
“That scene recollects in my memory of its own and when such thing happens, I faint. I have to take anti- depressants as doctors have diagnosed me with PTSD,” she says.
The situation has now also reached to a pass where her in-laws also hate her for not being able to conceive a child.
She has a firm faith that “only God can change things in her favor”.
“I have full faith on my Allah. He, the all powerful, will bring happiness in my world one day,” she says.
Drugs, Late marriages, Posttraumatic Stress Disorder reasons for rising infertility cases
