The European Conference on Tropical Medicine and International Health 2023
At ECTMIH 2023 (European Congress on Tropical Medicine and International Health) in Utrecht, fertility was a significant topic, an often neglected issue. “Infertility: The untold story” focused on Infertility stigma, the inaccessibility of fertility care and the disproportionate burden on women, contrasting with general themes of planetary health, climate change and health equity.
Discussions covered practical examples from Bangladesh and The Gambia, emphasizing the gap between infertility’s prevalence and its inclusion in global health policies, with calls for better integration of fertility care into UHC.
The session highlighted infertility as:
• A major but neglected global health issue
• A condition affecting both men and women, though the burden falls disproportionately on women
• A source of stigma, shame, and social exclusion, especially in low‑resource settings
• A topic rarely included in global health policy, programs, or public financing
It also emphasized the lack of accessible fertility care in many countries.
The session included:
• A general introduction to infertility
• Lived experiences of infertility, treatment‑seeking, and exclusion, with examples from Bangladesh
• Infertility care in practice in The Gambia
Speakers
• Charlotte Frederike van Teunenbroek, MD – Resident in Global Health & Tropical Medicine, Leeuwarden Medical Centre
• Dr. Papreen Nahar – Senior Research Fellow, Medical Anthropology & Global Health, University of Sussex
• Dr. Cynthia Witsenburg – Specialist in fertility & women’s health, Dimbayaa Fertility Programme, The Gambia
Moderator: Prof. Dr. Jelle Stekelenburg.
Organised by Sharenet International
