I'm Diseased

On November 30th, 2009, the Worl.d Heal.th Or.ganization finally classified infertility as a "disease". A real live, official disease. What was it before?

Unrecognized.

Wil.liam Gi.bbons MD, President of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM) states: “We applaud the WHO for leading this important effort and for being so clear about the disease status of infertility. For too long those suffering from infertility have had their condition slighted or even ignored. Insurance companies don’t pay to treat it, governments don’t put adequate resources to study it and consequently patients suffer. We hope that this international recognition that infertility is, in fact, a disease will allow it to be treated like other diseases.” (Source: ASRM Press Release)

Pame.la Tsi.gdinos blogged about this yesterday (click here to read her post). Hopefully she's correct when she states: "With such a proclamation, we move that much closer to a new generation of women and men getting respect and help to fight a disease that has too long been overlooked..."

I'm a bit disheartened this classification didn't make bigger waves in the news or medical world. If there was a new type of virus or cancer that was "classified as a disease", you can bet your bottom dollar everyone would've heard about it. As it is, if I weren't a fan of Pame.la's on Fac.ebook, I wouldn't have heard about it at all. And I work in the medical community!

I really hope this disease classification brings about change in the research and insurance industry sooner rather than later. I only have a few years left!