June 30 is Sperm Count Decline Awareness Day, highlighting critical men’s health issue

Global Initiative for Boys and Men has declared June 30 as International Sperm Count Decline Awareness Day.

We chose June 30 because it is halfway through the calendar year, symbolizing the 50% global decline in sperm counts, and because it is the final day of June, which is Men’s Health Month. The goal is to raise awareness about the importance of this global health issue.

Mark Sutton, Global Initiative for Boys and Men

The United States has an Office of Women’s Health to identify and analyze important health issues for girls and women. However, there is no Office of Men’s Health. This is a gender inequity that should be rectified.

Graph showing one study's findings that men's sperm concentration reduced by one-third between the years 1989 and 2005
This graph shows one study’s findings that men’s sperm concentration reduced by one-third between the years 1989 and 2005 [Source]

Quoting from the summary of a paper published last year in Reproductive Sciences:

“The global trend of progressive reduction in the number and motility of healthy spermatozoa in the ejaculate is associated with increased risk of infertility. Therefore, developing approaches for maintaining or enhancing human sperm motility has been an important area of investigation. In this review we discuss the physiology of sperm, molecular pathways regulating sperm motility, risk factors affecting sperm motility, and the role of sperm motility in fertility outcomes…. This article opens dialogs to help toxicologists, clinicians, andrologists, and embryologists in understanding the mechanism of factors influencing sperm motility and various management strategies to improve treatment outcomes.”

Abstract of paper published in Reproductive Sciences journal, December 2020

An important book by Dr. Shanna Swan of Mount Sinai Health System is bringing greater awareness to men’s declining fertility: Count Down: How Our Modern World Is Threatening Sperm Counts, Altering Male and Female Reproductive Development, and Imperiling the Future of the Human Race.

Dr. Shanna Swan of Mount Sinai Health System discusses how endocrine-disrupting chemicals are contributing to decreasing sperm counts