Around one in every six adults experiences infertility, according to a new World Health Organization report that calls for an urgent increase in fertility care access.

The WHO estimates that around 17.5 percent of adults worldwide are affected by infertility at some point in their lives, with little variation between regions and wealthy and poorer countries.

"Globally, an estimated one out of every six people are affected by the inability to have a child at some point in their life," WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in the foreword to the report.

"This is regardless of where they live and what resources they have."

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‌The report analyzes existing studies conducted from 1990 to 2021, finding that in high-income countries, 17.8 percent of adults were affected by infertility during their lifetime.

That compares to 16.5 percent in low- and middle-income countries.

Tedros said the report, the first of its kind in a decade, highlighted "an important truth: Infertility does not discriminate."

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

The WHO has designated the issue a "major health challenge globally."

However, it also stressed the difficulty of comparing the situation in various regions due to a lack of data, warning that there were significant variations in the data gathered.

"Infertility affects millions," said Tedros, adding that "even still, it remains understudied, and solutions underfunded, and inaccessible to many, as the result of high costs, social stigma and limited availability."

Social stigma

Pascale Allotey, head of the WHO's Sexual and Reproductive Health and Research division, also raised 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," she added adding that people with infertility often suffered anxiety and depression.

There is also "an increased risk of intimate partner violence associated with infertility, as relationships are tested," she warned.

The WHO is calling on countries to include infertility treatment as part of their reproductive health policies, services and financing in a bid to promote "safe, effective, and affordable ways to attain parenthood."

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