According to a report released this week by the WHO, 17.5% of the world’s adult population, roughly 1 in 6 worldwide were impacted by infertility.
In the Western Pacific region – including Australia – the range was between 8.2% and 39.7%.
The new estimates show limited variation in the prevalence of infertility between regions, with comparable rates across high, middle and low-income countries. Lifetime prevalence was 17.8% in high-income countries and 16.5% in low- and middle-income countries.
“Infertility does not discriminate,” Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the WHO’s Director-General, said.
“The sheer proportion of people affected show 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.”
Lifetime infertility prevalence estimate ranges were largest for the Americas (4.2-35.3%), Europe (9-31.8%), and the Western Pacific, and smallest for Africa (9.3-15.8%).
Despite the magnitude of the issue, the report highlighted that the solutions for its prevention, diagnosis, and treatment, including assisted reproductive technology such as IVF, remain underfunded and inaccessible to many due to prohibitive costs, social stigma and limited availability.
It noted that infertility could cause significant distress and financial hardship due to large out-of-pocket costs, affecting people’s mental and psychosocial well-being.
“Millions of people face catastrophic healthcare costs after seeking treatment for infertility, making this a major equity issue and all too often, a medical poverty trap for those affected,” said Dr Pascale Allotey, Director of WHO’s Sexual and Reproductive Health and Research division.
“Better policies and public financing can significantly improve access to treatment and protect poorer households from falling into poverty as a result.”
While the new report showed convincing evidence of the high global prevalence of infertility, Dr Allotey said that it also highlighted a persistent lack of data in many countries and some regions, and has called for greater availability of national data on infertility disaggregated by age and by cause to help with quantifying infertility, and identifying who needs fertility care and how risks can be reduced.
Separately, new WHO-backed research, Human Reproduction Open, published earlier this week, assessed the costs associated with infertility treatments in low and middle-income countries and found that the direct medical costs paid by patients for a single round IVF was often higher than the average annual income.