The impact of infertility: why ART should be a higher priority for women in the global South.

Cancer is typically associated with countries in the global North1 rather than the global South. This is in part because cancer is often portrayed as a disease of late middle to old age and the global North has a larger percentage of this particular demographic than the global South. Yet, cancer is the third leading non-communicable cause of death in developing countries [1]. Furthermore, the American Cancer Society estimates that over half of all new cancer cases were in the global South in 2007. Specifically, almost 3.6 million of the 6.6 million new male cancer cases worldwide and over 3.1 million of the 5.7 million new female cancer cases worldwide afflicted men and women in the global South [2]. As these numbers show cancer is not a disease only or mostly affecting people in the global North, it also affects a substantial population in the global South. Many of the established treatments for cancer, like chemotherapy, radiation, and surgery, run the risk of infertility for both women and men. The social consequences of infertility for women in the global South are especially devastating, ranging anywhere from ostracism to spousal violence. Yet fertility preservation treatment for women with cancer in the global South is generally not available for a variety of reasons, most of which center around money. These resource-poor countries typically lack both qualified health-care professionals and facilities necessary for fertility preservation treatment and other assisted reproductive technologies (ART).