Presentation

A major public health issue

With 3.3 million people directly affected in France, infertility represents a major public health issue. In industrialized countries, infertility is on the rise as a result of a number of factors, such as an increase in the reproductive age, the impact of the environment and nutrition, as well as medical causes linked to the endocrine and reproductive systems of both men and women. One of the main causes of infertility is endometriosis, a chronic disease affecting one in ten women of childbearing age. It is characterized by the presence of endometrial tissue outside the uterine cavity, which reacts to hormonal variations in the menstrual cycle and causes bleeding in the areas where it is located. Inflammatory reactions, with the formation of scar tissue and adhesions between neighbouring organs, cause pain that is often incapacitating.

The Women’s and Couples’ Health research program

As part of France 2030, the French government has entrusted Inserm with the task of managing the Women’s and Couples’ Health research program, designed to enable the implementation of the research initiatives set out in the National Strategy to Fight Endometriosis and in the Report on the Causes of Infertility – Towards a National Strategy to Fight Infertility. This program benefits from a budget of €25M from France 2030 over 5 years, operated by the ANR on behalf of the French government.

The program is organized around two axes: infertility and endometriosis. It aims to advance research and further structure the French community in fundamental, clinical, public health, epidemiological and human and social sciences research in these two fields.