Dr. John Williams of the Navrongo Health Research Institute says Pelvic Inflammatory Disease (PID) is a major cause of infertility in Ghanaian women. Dr. Williams said PID occurred when bacteria or fungi infected the female reproductive organs and was either left untreated for a long time or inadequately treated. He noted that the disease could cause permanent damage to the organs as the bacteria could silently invade the fallopian tubes causing normal tissue to turn into scar tissue. He said this at a day's Health Seminar organised by the Women's Commission of the University for Development Studies (UDS) at the Navrongo Campus at the weekend. The Seminar under the theme, 'Prevention of Pelvic Inflammatory Diseases (PID)' was aimed at educating female students to take good care of their reproductive system, which was very crucial to child bearing. He explained that PID occurred when the bacterial or fungal infection moved upwards from a woman's cervix or vagina into the reproductive organs and that many different organisms could cause PID, but the main causes were associated with gonorrhoea and chlamydeous infections. Dr Williams noted that scar tissue could block or interrupt the normal movement of an egg into the uterus, thereby preventing normal pregnancy, adding, that when the fallopian tubes were totally blocked or even slightly damaged by scar tissue, sperms could not fertilize an egg. Dr Williams attributed the cause of PID mainly to having multiple sex partners, practicing of douching by women and the use of intrauterine device among others. Dr Williams said it was often difficult to diagnose the symptoms of PID, but the most common symptoms were fever, cervical tenderness, lower abdominal pains, new or different discharges, painful sex and irregular menstrual bleeding. He asked students to abstain from sex, use condoms or stick to one partner, and advised that they should visit the nearby hospital or health centres to seek treatment as soon as one sees the symptoms. Dr Agnes Apusiga, official in charge of Gender Programmes of UDS urged the female students to take what they have learnt at the seminar seriously since PID could lead to infertility. Dr Apusiga explained that the Ghanaian Society and for that matter Africa cherished children more than anything and cautioned the female students to practice safe and healthy sex to avoid being infected with PID. Source: GNA