Infertility affects one in six people worldwide—around 17.5 percent of the adult population—according to a new report published by the World Health Organisation.
The report shows little variation in the prevalence of infertility in high, middle and low-income countries. Lifetime prevalence was 17.8 percent in high-income countries and 16.5 percent in low- and middle-income nations.
In a statement released on April 4, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the report “reveals an important truth— infertility does not discriminate.”
He noted that the many affected people show the urgent need to widen access to fertility treatment.
He also said it’s important to ensure the issue is “no longer sidelined in health research policy so that safe, effective and affordable ways to attaint parenthood are available for those who seek it.”…