Infertility on rise among Indian men

NEW DELHI, Aug. 25 (Xinhua) -- Infertility is on the rise among Indian men, the country's Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad has said.

The Health Minister said Friday that studies have also revealed that the sperm count and sperm quality of Indian men are also affected, local media reported Saturday.

"The government has taken steps to curb environmental pollution to check this problem," Azad was quoted by The Times of India newspaper as saying.

A recent study by a premier state-owned hospital, the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, showed that the sperm count of Indian men now stands at 20 million per ml as compared to 60 million per ml nearly 30 years back, the newspaper said.

Some 15 million couples in India are diagnosed with infertility every year, according to statistics.