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- Русский
It is with pleasure that I accepted the invitation for this event on the occasion of Mother's Day. Being a mother is one of the most expensive jobs since the payoff is none other than what is called unlimited love.
The theme of tonight's event is fertility. A subject that takes us back to ancient times and is intertwined with woman. Fertility has been worshipped as a deity, protected and praised in many ancient cultures. In modern societies again, motherhood is celebrated and protected by states through various support programmes such as allowances, maternity leave, reduced working hours, etc. However, in recent years there has been an increase in the rate of infertility with a significant number of couples and single women resorting to assisted reproduction methods to have a child, where it is estimated that 1 in 6 people will face infertility issues.
For this reason, the World Health Organization has recognized infertility as a disease, as it affects millions of people and has an impact on their families and the community at large.
It is estimated that more than 5 million children have been born globally in the more than 30 years that therapeutic approaches have been developed to address infertility. Undoubtedly a great achievement of medicine and technology.
The availability, access and quality of medical services for infertility treatment is a challenge in modern countries.
Europe, recognising the importance of access to health services to provide safe and effective treatments, has introduced regulations to protect both women and men who are donors or recipients, or will undergo procedures in relation to infertility treatment. The Ministry of Health in Cyprus has promoted modern legislation on assisted reproduction and subsidises treatments for the treatment of infertility through a scheme which is innovative because it also subsidises the preservation of eggs by women in order to preserve their fertility in the long term.
Together with the Ministry of Labour and Social Security in the framework of an updated Demographic and Family Policy Action Plan, the Ministry of Health has included the subsidy plan for the treatment of infertility, but also actions related to under-fertility in our country, such as actions for the prevention of sexually transmitted diseases, which if not treated in time increase infertility especially in women.
Also as a society, we should take into account family planning issues, as the average Cypriot woman has children at the age of 32. We should encourage young women to start family planning as early as possible, as female fertility decreases significantly after the age of 35. This undoubtedly adds to the infertility rate we see today, but it also adds physical, psychological and financial costs to every woman who enters the assisted reproduction process in order to have a child of her own.
In conclusion, I would like to stress that the Ministry of Health supports women who are making their own struggle to have a child and at the same time calls on society for its support. Support gives strength and strength gives light. This light will enlighten our society to light its own torches for a better tomorrow for our children and their families.
(DK)
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