(Reuters) -Infertility is an overlooked public health challenge and affordable treatment should be available within national health systems, the World Health Organization said on Friday in its first guideline on the topic.

Infertility is estimated to affect more than 1 in 6 people of reproductive age at some point in their lives, the WHO said. But access to care is severely limited, and differs greatly from country to country.

It is also often paid for out-of-pocket, leading to catastrophic financial expenditure, the U.N. health agency added. In some countries, a single round of in vitro fertilisation, or IVF, can cost twice as much as the average annual household income, the WHO said.

“Infertility is one of the most overlooked public health challenges of our time and a major equity iss

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