WHO calls on countries to make fertility care safer, fairer, and more affordable

The World Health Organization (WHO) has called on countries to make fertility care safer, fairer, and more affordable for all in its first-ever global guideline for the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of infertility.

The guideline includes 40 recommendations that seek to strengthen the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of infertility. It promotes cost-effective options at every stage, while advocating for the integration of fertility care into national health strategies, services, and financing. It stresses the need to tackle leading risk factors for infertility, including untreated sexually transmitted infections and tobacco use. Lifestyle interventions — such as healthy diet, physical activity, and tobacco cessation — are recommended for individuals and couples planning or attempting pregnancy. Informing people about fertility and infertility early can assist them in making reproductive plans.

Infertility is estimated to affect 1 in 6 people of reproductive age at some point in their lives and is defined by the failure to achieve pregnancy after 12 months or more of regular unprotected sexual intercourse.

WHO notes that while demand for services is rising worldwide, access to care remains severely limited.

“In many countries, tests and treatments for infertility are largely funded out-of-pocket — often resulting in catastrophic financial expenditures. In some settings, even a single round of in vitro fertilization (IVF) can cost double the average annual household income,’’ said a release issued by the world organisation on Friday (November 28, 2025).

The guidelines also provide guidance on steps for effective clinical management of infertility and call for increased investment in prevention measures, including dissemination of information on fertility and infertility in schools, primary healthcare and reproductive health facilities. It also outlines clinical pathways for diagnosing common biological causes of male and female infertility. 

Considering the findings from clinical tests as well as patient preferences, it provides guidance on how to progressively advance treatment options from simpler management strategies – where clinicians first provide advice on fertile periods and fertility promotion without active treatment – to more complex treatment courses such as intrauterine insemination or IVF. Recognizing the emotional toll of infertility, which can lead to depression, anxiety and feelings of social isolation, the guideline emphasizes the need to ensure ongoing access to psychosocial support for all those affected.

WHO, meanwhile, is encouraging countries to adapt the recommendations to their local contexts and to monitor progress. Successful implementation will require collaboration across Ministries of Health, societies of health professionals, civil society, and patient groups.

“Implementation should also align with comprehensive, rights-based approaches to sexual and reproductive health — including fertility care — that empower people throughout their lives to make informed, individual decisions about whether and when to have children,’’ said WHO.

“Infertility is one of the most overlooked public health challenges of our time and a major equity issue globally,” said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO director-general. “Millions face this journey alone — priced out of care, pushed toward cheaper but unproven treatments, or forced to choose between their hopes of having children and their financial security. We encourage more countries to adapt this guideline, giving more people the possibility to access affordable, respectful, and science-based care.”