Health
WHO: Making infertility treatment more affordable
A monitor shows an intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI). During the treatment, a sperm is injected into an egg cell. photo
© Klaus-Dietmar Gabbert/dpa-Zentralbild/dpa
Significant agony, stigma, and mental suffering: Infertility comes with great discomfort for those affected. But treatment is expensive and rarely covered by insurance.
According to a report by the World Health Organization (WHO), one in six people in the world is affected by infertility. There are practically no differences between rich and poor countries, the WHO reported on Monday.
“The sheer number of people affected shows that access to fertility treatments needs to be expanded and that health research and policy must no longer sideline this issue so that safe, effective and affordable avenues to parenthood are available to all who wish standing,” said WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
According to the WHO definition, doctors speak of infertility if no pregnancy occurs after regular, unprotected sexual intercourse over a longer period of time – one year or more.
This can lead to significant anguish and stigma and can damage people’s mental health. Nevertheless, it is unaffordable for many people to undergo artificial insemination. Such services are often simply not offered in the vicinity. The treatments are expensive and in most countries have to be paid for out of pocket. WHO advocates for more help to be made available to infertile people everywhere at affordable costs.
For this report, the WHO selected and evaluated 133 from more than 12,000 studies worldwide between 1990 and 2021.