Sexual and Reproductive Health and Research (SRH)

Including the Human Reproduction Special Programme (HRP)

About

Fertility care

It is the choice of each individual and couple, within their own sense of conscience, to determine if they intend pregnancy, and if so, the size of their family unit and the timing of when to have a child or children.

If fertility problems arise, interventions can be attempted from simple fertility awareness methods to more advanced methods associated with in vitro fertilization.

These interventions are scientifically innovative; and, they have revolutionized concepts of generational identity, family, and human reproductive potential.

Historical Walk: The HRP Special Programme and Infertility

29 August 2023

Contraception and Fertility Care - Dr James Kiarie: HRP@50 Expert Series

News

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4 April 2023

News release

1 in 6 people globally affected by infertility: WHO

27 July 2021

Departmental update

WHO launches updated manual to ensure high quality testing of human semen in clinical and research settings

4 February 2020

Departmental update

Multiple definitions of infertility

Events

Webinar: Launch of Infertility Prevalence Estimates, 1990-2021

4 April 2023 13:00 – 14:30 CET

Publications

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Infertility Prevalence Estimates, 1990–2021

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

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WHO laboratory manual for the examination and processing of human semen, 6th ed

The sixth edition of the WHO Manual for the Laboratory Examination and Processing of Human Semen is a reference document for procedures and methods for...

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Preconception care to reduce maternal and childhood mortality and morbidity

OverviewReduction of maternal and childhood mortality and morbidity requires the provision of a continuum of care that spans pregnancy, childbirth, infancy,...

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Comparative report

This study utilizes data from 47 Demographic and Health Surveys in developing countries to examine levels, trends, and differentials in women’s inability...

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Stories

Maasai couples seek safer solutions to infertility

Bulletin of the World Health Organization - 2010 Dec 1; 88(12): 885–886.

Mother or nothing: the agony of infertility

Bulletin of the World Health Organization - 2010 Dec 1; 88(12): 881–882.

Journal articles

2025

Schröder D, Sorano S, Shipitsyna E, et al. Prevalence and epidemiology of Mycoplasma genitalium and the absence of macrolide resistance in M. genitalium among pregnant women attending antenatal care in Zambia. Front Public Health. 2025;13:1576376. Published 2025 May 9. doi:10.3389/fpubh.2025.1576376

Njagi P, Groot W, Arsenijevic J, et al. Financial cost of assisted reproductive technology for patients in high-income countries: A systematic review protocol. PLoS One. 2025;20(2):e0318780. Published 2025 Feb 13. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0318780

Benbella A, Mburu G, Zaidouni A, et al. Experiences of infertility among couples in Morocco. Front Reprod Health. 2025;6:1513243. Published 2025 Jan 7. doi:10.3389/frph.2024.1513243

Nahar P, Shafique S, Satalkar-Götz P, Sultana F, Mburu G. Experience, access and utilisation of fertility care for infertile men within the biomedical sector in urban Bangladesh: protocol for a qualitative study. BMJ Open. 2024;14(12):e092365. Published 2024 Dec 22. doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2024-092365

2024

Adhikary P, Mburu G, Kabra R, et al. Intersectional analysis of the experiences of women who fail to conceive in low and middle income neighbourhoods of Delhi, India: Findings from a qualitative study. PLoS One. 2024;19(7):e0304029. Published 2024 Jul 3. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0304029

Mburu G, Kiarie J, Allotey P. Towards a nuanced view and response to global fertility trends. Lancet. 2024;403(10440):1953-1956. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(24)00490-2

2023

Mburu G, Kamuyango A, Kidula N, et al. Fulfilment of fertility desires for the attainment of Global Sustainable Development Goals. BMJ Glob Health. 2023;8(4):e012322. doi:10.1136/bmjgh-2023-012322

Njagi P, Groot W, Arsenijevic J, Dyer S, Mburu G, Kiarie J. Financial costs of assisted reproductive technology for patients in low- and middle-income countries: a systematic review. Hum Reprod Open. 2023;2023(2):hoad007. Published 2023 Mar 1. doi:10.1093/hropen/hoad007

2022

Cox CM, Thoma ME, Tchangalova N, et al. Infertility prevalence and the methods of estimation from 1990 to 2021: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Hum Reprod Open. 2022;2022(4):hoac051. Published 2022 Nov 12. doi:10.1093/hropen/hoac051

Nabhan A, Salama M, Elsayed M, et al. Indicators of infertility and fertility care: a systematic scoping review. Hum Reprod Open. 2022;2022(4):hoac047. Published 2022 Oct 13. doi:10.1093/hropen/hoac047

Adhikary P, Roy N, Mburu G, et al. Characteristics, experiences and actions taken by women to address delayed conception: A mixed-methods cross-sectional study protocol. PLoS One. 2022;17(3):e0264777. Published 2022 Mar 11. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0264777

Björndahl L, Barratt CLR, Mortimer D, et al. Standards in semen examination: publishing reproducible and reliable data based on high-quality methodology. Hum Reprod. 2022;37(11):2497-2502. doi:10.1093/humrep/deac189

Barratt CLR, Wang C, Baldi E, et al. What advances may the future bring to the diagnosis, treatment, and care of male sexual and reproductive health?. Fertil Steril. 2022;117(2):258-267. doi:10.1016/j.fertnstert.2021.12.013

Björndahl L, Kirkman Brown J; other Editorial Board Members of the WHO Laboratory Manual for the Examination and Processing of Human Semen. The sixth edition of the WHO Laboratory Manual for the Examination and Processing of Human Semen: ensuring quality and standardization in basic examination of human ejaculates. Fertil Steril. 2022;117(2):246-251. doi:10.1016/j.fertnstert.2021.12.012

Wang C, Mbizvo M, Festin MP, Björndahl L, Toskin I; other Editorial Board Members of the WHO Laboratory Manual for the Examination and Processing of Human Semen. Evolution of the WHO "Semen" processing manual from the first (1980) to the sixth edition (2021). Fertil Steril. 2022;117(2):237-245. doi:10.1016/j.fertnstert.2021.11.037

2021

Campbell MJ, Lotti F, Baldi E, et al. Distribution of semen examination results 2020 - A follow up of data collated for the WHO semen analysis manual 2010. Andrology. 2021;9(3):817-822. doi:10.1111/andr.12983

Keiding N, Ali MM, Eriksson F, Matsaseng T, Toskin I, Kiarie J. The Use of Time to Pregnancy for Estimating and Monitoring Human Fecundity From Demographic and Health Surveys. Epidemiology. 2021;32(1):27-35. doi:10.1097/EDE.0000000000001296

2020

Chiware TM, Vermeulen N, Blondeel K, et al. IVF and other ART in low- and middle-income countries: a systematic landscape analysis. Hum Reprod Update. 2021;27(2):213-228. doi:10.1093/humupd/dmaa047

Connolly MP, Panda S, Mburu G, Matsaseng T, Kiarie J. Estimating the government public economic benefits attributed to investing in assisted reproductive technology: a South African case study. Reprod Biomed Soc Online. 2020;12:14-21. Published 2020 Sep 4. doi:10.1016/j.rbms.2020.08.001

Davis, M. F., and R. Khosla. Infertility and Human Rights: A Jurisprudential Survey. Columbia Journal of Gender and Law, vol. 40, no. 1, Sept. 2020, pp. 1-45, doi:10.7916/cjgl.v40i1.6847

Chemaitelly H, Majed A, Abu-Hijleh F, et al. Global epidemiology of Neisseria gonorrhoeae in infertile populations: systematic review, meta-analysis and metaregression. Sex Transm Infect. 2021;97(2):157-169. doi:10.1136/sextrans-2020-054515

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