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IVF pioneer seeks more centres to boost reproductive health

By Michael Egbejule, Benin City
17 March 2016   |   3:04 am
Determined to help address and reduce issues related with reproductive health that has plagued women in Nigeria and beyond, a joint pioneer of In-Vitro Fertilization..
UBTH

UBTH

Determined to help address and reduce issues related with reproductive health that has plagued women in Nigeria and beyond, a joint pioneer of In-Vitro Fertilization (IVF)/Test Tube Baby technique in Nigeria, renowned scholar and University don, Prof. Osato Giwa-Osagie, has tasked the public sector to establish more IVF training centres in public hospitals across the country.

Giwa-Osagie said the move when successfully actualized would help to assist persons who do not have enough cash to fund two or three IVF cycles, which is sometimes required to achieve pregnancy through IVF method.

In the absence of insurance coverage for infertility or grants to assist infertile couples succeed in the field of reproduction, the medical expert asserted that of the 47 IVF centres in Nigeria, 42 of them were privately owned, with five owned and managed by government.

Speaking at the University of Benin Town and Gown symposium lecture titled: “The impact of IVF test tube-babies in Nigeria,” Prof. Giwa-Osagie, said the advancement in science has made it possible for women who have blocked tubes, which is the number one cause of infertility to access treatments that works.

Giwa-Osagie said among the government controlled health care centres where the IVF has become functional include the University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH), National Hospital, Abuja, and Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH). He said the IVF training centre in LUTH has just been re-opened after 30 years.

On his part, Vice-Chancellor, University of Benin, Prof. Faraday Orumwense, in his remarks, said the symposium was born-out of the need to sustain and improve reproductive health practice, as the institution under his leadership is determined to assist in resolving global problems through academic research.

Giwa-Osagie noted that the major cause of infertility is infection urging that, “there should be effort to always ensure that our women deliver safely and in hygiene environment under the expertise of qualified care provider including certified nurses and doctors.

He cautioned on the need for women to practice personal and environmental hygiene to achieve success in reproductive Health stressing that, “Each IVF circle has about 70 percent failure rate and 30 percent success rate.”

According to him, “Persons born without functioning ovaries or who do not release eggs, as well as others who have never experienced their menstrual circle in their lives can now have babies with IVF, while men who either have low sperm count or without sperm can have babies as well, by a process whereby their sperm is harvested from their testis and subjected to laboratory examination.”

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