A new report from the World Health Organization (WHO) , published on April 4, warns that 17.5% of adults (that is, around one in six people) have infertility , making it urgent to increase access to affordable, quality care for those who need it.
According to new estimates, the prevalence of infertility varies little from one region to another and rates are similar in high-, middle- and low-income countries , demonstrating that it is a major public health problem in all countries. countries and all parts of the world.
Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus , Director-General of the WHO, said: “The report reveals an incontestable truth, that infertility makes no distinctions. The enormous proportion of those affected shows the need to expand access to treatments and to include infertility in health policies and studies, so that people who want it have safe, effective and affordable ways to have children.
The WHO highlights that infertility is a disorder of the reproductive system (male or female) that consists of the inability to achieve pregnancy after 12 months or more of regular unprotected sexual relations. It can cause a lot of distress, stigmatization and economic hardship and affect people’s mental and psychosocial well-being.
Despite the magnitude of this problem, the solutions available to prevent, diagnose and treat it (such as assisted reproduction techniques, including in vitro fertilization) continue to be underfunded and are inaccessible to many people due to their high cost. , social stigma and its poor availability.
In most countries, it is the affected people themselves who, to a large extent, pay for these treatments, which are usually very expensive. People in poorer countries spend a higher relative proportion of their income on infertility therapies than in richer countries. These exorbitant expenses often prevent people from undergoing such treatments or push them into poverty.
Dr. Pascale Allotey , Director of the WHO Department of Sexual and Reproductive Health and Related Research (underpinning the United Nations Special Program for Research, Development and Training of Researchers in Human Reproduction), said: “Millions of people face catastrophic expenditures to treat infertility, making this issue a major equity issue and, all too often, a poverty trap. “Improving public policies and financing would significantly facilitate access to treatments and can protect the most disadvantaged households.”
While the new report provides compelling evidence of the high global prevalence of infertility, it also highlights the persistent lack of data in many countries and some regions. The document calls on countries to provide more data on infertility, disaggregated by age and cause, to help quantify the problem, determine who needs care and learn how risks can be reduced.
Information about the document
The report provides data on the global and regional prevalence of infertility by analyzing all relevant studies carried out between 1990 and 2021 and taking into account the various estimation methods used.
The search carried out found 12,241 study records from around the world that could be included in the analysis. Finally, 133 studies were selected from which relevant data were obtained to calculate pooled estimates of the prevalence of infertility throughout life and during specified periods.
Furthermore, a new study funded by the Special Program for Research, Development and Training of Researchers on Human Reproduction, with the support of the WHO, and published in the journal Human Reproduction Open, analyzes the costs associated with infertility treatments in low- and middle-income countries.
