Infertility an issue ‘for one in six’ adults, says WHO

About one in every six adults ­experiences infertility, regardless of where they live and how wealthy they are, the World Health Organisation estimates.

Across their lifetime, 17.8 per cent of adults in high-income countries and 16.5 per cent in low- and middle-income countries were affected by infertility, ­according to a WHO report.

About one in every six adults ­experiences infertility, regardless of where they live and how wealthy they are, the World Health Organisation estimates.

The WHO called for an urgent increase in access to fertility care after determining that 17.5 per cent of adults worldwide are affected by infertility at some point, and found little variation between regions and wealthy and poorer countries.

Across their lifetime, 17.8 per cent of adults in high-income countries and 16.5 per cent in low- and middle-income countries were affected by infertility, ­according to a WHO report ­released on Tuesday.

The organisation’s chief, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said the report – the first of its kind in a decade – revealed “an important truth: infertility does not dis­criminate”.  

The WHO designated the issue a “major health challenge globally”, but stressed the difficulty of comparing the situation in various regions due to a lack of data from a number of countries.

Infertility is classified as a disease of the male or female reproductive system defined by the failure to achieve a pregnancy after 12 months or more of regular unprotected sexual intercourse.

The report did not examine the causes of infertility, and did not seek to determine trends over time, or infertility differences ­between the sexes.

Instead, it provided a first estimate of the global and regional prevalency after experts ploughed through piles of studies conducted between 1990 and 2021.

“We cannot, based on the data we have, say that infertility is ­increasing or constant … The jury’s still out on that question,” James Kiarie, head of the WHO’s contraception and fertility care unit, said.

Pascale Allotey, head of the WHO’s sexual and reproductive health and research division, also highlighted the stigma associated with infertility and the inequity in access to treatment.

“Procreation comes with a significant societal pressure,” she said, pointing out that in many countries “pregnancy remains critical to the perception of womanhood and … of a couple”.

“Failure is often met with stigma,” Professor Allotey said, pointing out that people with infertility often suffer “depression, with ramifications for people’s mental and psychosocial wellbeing”.

AFP