Xoese Ghana, an NGO championing women’s reproductive health with a campaign to end infertility stigma, has marked the 2024 PCOS Awareness Month of September with a Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS) management webinar aimed at providing women and couples with the needed education and information to effectively manage PCOS for pregnancy.

The webinar came off on Thursday, September 19, 2024, via the online platform Zoom; with over 300 females and males participating.

Lifestyle adjustments, nutrition – foods to avoid, foods to be eaten, and medications used in managing PCOS, among others, were among key focal issues at the webinar.

It also sought to defeat the common misconception that women with PCOS cannot get pregnant, and rather shed light on how proper management can help women with PCOS attain pregnancy.

The 2024 PCOS management webinar was facilitated by Dr. Samuel Gyedu Owusu of St. Anthony’s Catholic Hospital, who also doubles as board chairman of Xoese Ghana; Dr. Khurram Shahzad, assistant general manager of Kinapharma Limited Ghana; Mrs. Janet Yeboah, a licensed nutritionist and PCOS advocate; and Mr. Moarif Murtaza, also assistant general manager (Pharmacy) of Kinapharma Limited Ghana.

The Executive Director of Xoese Ghana, Ms. Emelia Naa Ayeley Aryee, noted that PCOS is thriving among most women because they lack information on how to properly manage it.

She was therefore impressed with the turnout which she said meant that women and couples alike are getting enlightened on the condition and seeking solutions.

“This is why we first organised the PCOS Awareness Seminar in September 2023 in Accra. This year, we organised the Fertility Conference in June. The PCOS Management Webinar is our third major event. Aside from the advocacy work, practical support is also needed,” Ms. Aryee emphasized.

She added that it was no enough to merely call for an end to infertility stigma without any practical support for women and couples facing fertility issues; hence the PCOS Management Webinar.

She revealed that over 60 women have reported to the NGO with various medical conditions causing infertility, and are receiving medical attention to overcome their infertility and have children.

Xoese Ghana’s 2024 PCOS Management Webinar followed last year’s PCOS Awareness Seminar which aimed at creating awareness about the condition which is the leading cause of infertility in women.

September is known as the PCOS Awareness month, and according to the World Health Organization (WHO), 70% of PCOS cases are undiagnosed. This comes as a result of lack of information, education, and awareness of PCOS.

It is in this vein that Xoese Ghana put together the 2024 PCOS Management Webinar to provide deeper insights into how to manage PCOS.

The Xoese Ghana Executive Director further placed an emphatic call on all and sundry to stop stigmatising women because they are already going through a lot and what they need is support, not stigmatisation.

She added that some of them are living with medical conditions through no fault of theirs, therefore, it is inhuman and unkind to subject a couple, particularly women, to infertility stigma.

Xoese Ghana was in the news recently following its Fertility Conference facilitated by fertility experts Dr. Joseph Homiah of Accra Fertility Center, Dr. Samuel Gyedu Owusu, and Dr. Yaa Owusu Baah of Tema Women’s Hospital.