title: Infertility: from a personal to a public health problem.
abstract: The inability to conceive a child is most often viewed as a private matter, but public health perspectives and skills can contribute greatly to our knowledge about infertility, and the development of effective and rational public policy for prevention, access to health care, and regulation of new technologies. We offer a primer of public health aspects of infertility in an effort to encourage the broad spectrum of public health professionals to become more knowledgeable about these topics and join in the national debate about preventive strategies, cost-benefit assessment, resource allocation, and ethics.
authors.affiliation: Public Health Practice Program Office, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, USA. afidler@bu.edu
authors.forename: A T
authors.initials: AT
authors.lastname: Fidler
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bernstein
mesh_terms: D003365:Costs and Cost Analysis; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007247:Infertility, Female / Q000191:economics / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy; D007248:Infertility, Male / Q000191:economics / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy; D008297:Male; D011634:Public Health / Q000191:economics; D012099:Reproductive Techniques / Q000191:economics; D012940:Social Problems / Q000191:economics / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000523:psychology; D014481:United States