Expert seeks regulation of IVF in Nigeria

The Chairman, the Bridge Clinic Board of Directors, Chief Dr. Oluyomi Abayomi Finnih, delivering his address at the opening of the Institute of Fertility Medicine, Lagos State University Teaching Hospital funded by the Bridge Clinic

Dr. Richardson Adedayo Ajayi, Managing Director of the Bridge Clinic, Nigeria’s foremost internationally certified Intro-Vitro Fertilization (IVF) services organisation has called for the regulation of IVF services in the country saying this would help in guaranteeing quality in that sector. Speaking at a media interaction in Port Harcourt recently, Dr. Ajayi noted that proper regulation of IVF services would ensure that those who require the services would have enough faith in the system instead of going abroad to get the services.

He disclosed that the country was losing huge revenue that would have accrued to her, due to peoples’ preference to travelling abroad to assess the technology on because of quality assurance. He pointed out that lack of regulation was opening the sector to ill-trained and ill-equipped people to crash into the IVF field thus underscoring the need for urgent and decisive intervention by government to regulate the sector. “Nigeria is loosing healthcare dollars in the absence of regulation concerning IVF, because most people prefer to travel abroad to get it done, because they do not have trust in the system.

“This lack of trust centres on confidentiality, exploitation, safety, among others, created by the absence of regulation. IVF is not cheap; it requires a lot of technology, in terms of equipment and staff. “The Bridge Clinic was set up to provide high quality fertility treatment including IVF and Intra cytoplasmic Sperm Injection (ICSI) in Nigeria. We have been assisting couples experiencing difficulty with conception since 1999 and with the birth of over 1,100 babies.

“It is the first focused IVF clinic in the country, with the objective of providing Nigerians with the same standard of fertility treatment available in the United Kingdom ,” Ajayi said. As a way of leading the advocacy for regulation and ethics in the sector, Ajayi further said the Bridge Clinic organised an ethical think- tank session recently in Lagos which arrived at some recommendations which has been sent to the federal government for action. Also as part the clinic’s corporate social responsibility, Ajayi said the Clinic recently established the Institute of Fertility Medicine (IFM) in Lagos State University Teaching Hospital in partnership with the Lagos State government, to lower the cost IVF services to Nigerians.

SOURCE: NATIONALMIRRORONLINE