One in six people are affected by infertility, says WHO report

Around 17.5 per cent of the world population or one in six people have experienced infertility at some point in their lifetime, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has revealed in its report that seeks to underscore affliction as a global health issue.

The estimates are based on 100 studies conducted between 1990 and 2021 across high, middle and low-income countries.

In high-income countries, around 17.8 per centof the population have experiencedinfertility at least once, while it was 16.5 per cent in low- and middle-income countries.

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The UN health body has described infertility as a disease of the male or female reproductive system that is defined by the failure to achieve a pregnancy after 12 months or more of regular unprotected sexual intercourse.

While presenting the report, WHO chief Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the study highlighted that there was an urgent need to expand access to prevention, diagnosis and treatments for infertility.

“The report reveals an important truth – infertility does not discriminate. The sheer proportion of people affected shows the need to widen access to fertility care and ensure this issue is no longer sidelined in health research and policy, so that safe, effective and affordable ways to attain parenthood are available for those who seek it,” he said.

“The causes of infertility are varied and often complex, and it is something that both men and women experience,” said Tedros.

“Indeed, a wide variety of people, in all regions, may require fertility care.”

The WHO, however, suggested that there was not enough evidence to show whether prevalence was rising or not.

“Based on the data we have, we cannot say that infertility is increasing or constant … the jury’s still out on that question,” the global health agency’s unit head for Contraception and Fertility Care, James Kiarie, told journalists citing that data so far has been mixed and inconsistent, according to AFP.

(With inputs from agencies)

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