“Infertility does not discriminate,” said WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus in the foreword to a new report published on Tuesday.
About one in six people worldwide suffers from infertility, raising the urgent need to improve access to affordable, quality care, the World Health Organization argued on Tuesday.
“One in six people in the world will be affected by the inability to have a child at some point in their lives. And this regardless of where he lives and what resources are available to him,” emphasized WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus in the foreword to a new report.
According to the WHO, it is a real “major health problem” affecting 17.8% of the adult population in rich countries and 16.5% in low- and middle-income countries.
“This report, the first of its kind in ten years, reveals an important fact: infertility does not discriminate,” said Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
About 17.5% of the adult population
The report does not address medical, environmental or other causes of infertility or how it changes over time, but provides a first look at its prevalence by analyzing all relevant studies from 1990 to 2021.
It shows that “infertility affects a large proportion of the world’s population” as the problem affects approximately 17.5% of the adult population.
“Infertility affects millions of people,” and yet, emphasized Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, “the topic is still under-researched and solutions remain underfunded and inaccessible to many due to high cost, social stigma and limited availability”.
“The sheer proportion of people affected demonstrates the need to expand access to fertility care and to ensure that this issue is no longer sidelined in health research and policy, so that safe, effective and affordable routes are available to those who want it to achieve parenthood they are available,” he asked.
“Breaking the Silence”
According to the WHO, infertility is “a disease of the male or female reproductive system, defined as the inability to achieve pregnancy after 12 months or more of regular unprotected intercourse. This situation can lead to great hardship, stigma and financial hardship.
WHO is urging countries to expand solutions for the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of infertility, including assisted reproductive technologies such as in vitro fertilization.
“We want to make sure we break the silence on infertility and make sure it is included in sexual and reproductive health policies, services and funding,” said Dr. Gitau Mburu told reporters from WHO.
Although the new report presents data demonstrating the “high global prevalence” of infertility, it highlights a lack of data in many countries, including Africa, the eastern Mediterranean and Southeast Asia.