The World Health Organization warns this Tuesday about the “major health problem” of infertility. About one in six people in the world suffer from it, hence the urgent need to increase access to affordable, high-quality care.
“One in six people in the world is affected by the inability to have a child at some point in life. And this, regardless of where they live and the resources at their disposal”, underlines the Director General of the WHO, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, in the preface to a new report. It affects 17.8% of the adult population in rich countries and 16.5% in low- and middle-income countries.
“Infertility does not discriminate”
“This report, the first of its kind in ten years, reveals an important fact: infertility does not discriminate,” emphasizes Dr. Tedros. The document does not look at the medical or environmental causes of infertility, or its evolution over time, but gives a first glimpse of its prevalence by analyzing all the relevant studies from 1990 to 2021.
It shows that “infertility affects a large part of the world’s population” since the issue concerns approximately 17.5% of the adult population. It “affects millions of people” and yet, underlines Dr. Tedros, “the subject is still understudied and solutions remain underfunded and inaccessible to many due to high costs, social stigma and limited availability”. .
“The sheer proportion of people affected shows the need to expand access to fertility care and to ensure that this issue is no longer sidelined in health research and policy.” he.
The failure of procreation “is often stigmatized”
Infertility is, according to the WHO, “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”. Procreation “is accompanied by significant social pressure. In some countries, pregnancy remains essential to the perception of femininity and of what a couple is. Failure is often stigmatised,” recalls Dr. Pascale Allotey, Director of the WHO Department of Sexual and Reproductive Health. Those affected “often suffer from anxiety and depression” and there is also “an increased risk of domestic violence”, she adds.
The WHO therefore calls on countries to develop solutions for the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of infertility – including reproductive technologies such as in vitro fertilization. However, while the report presents data attesting to the “high global prevalence” of infertility, it also highlights a lack of data in many countries, particularly in Africa, the Eastern Mediterranean and Southeast Asia. .