Experts advocate inclusion of fertility treatment in health insurance

A renowned Gynaecologist and fertility expert and the founder, NISA Premier Group, Dr Ibrahim Wada, has called for the inclusion of fertility treatment into the National Health Insurance to make it affordable and accessible to couples facing infertility problems.

He argued that infertility is a disease that deserves to be covered by health insurance considering the exorbitant cost of fertility treatment not only in Nigeria but across the globe.

Meanwhile, experts, researchers, policymakers, and stakeholders across the globe will converge in Abuja to discuss innovative solutions that would help advance Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) and reproductive health in Nigeria and beyond.

Speaking at a press conference by the Association for Fertility and Reproductive Health ( ARFH) on its forthcoming Annual International Conference billed for 18-20th September 2024 in Abuja, Wada stated that many Nigerians are facing the challenge of infertility hence the need to bring IVF to the doorstep of every Nigerian that needs it through health insurance.

He decried the high level of quackery In the fertility treatment landscape adding that nations are governed by laws, adding that there is a need to ensure the passage of the IVF Regulation Act to tackle the problem.

He said, “Nations are governed by laws, and I want to appreciate the role of both the House of Representatives and the Senate in the work they’ve been doing for many, many years to try to regulate the practice of Invitro fertilization, and to try to regulate the practice of Invitro fertilization, and to try to regulate the practice of in vitro fertilization”.

“The Chairman Health Committee of the House of Representatives is going to keep working day and night until the Idea of Regulation Act is passed, I think, by the House, and probably then confirmed by the Senate.

“So, the country is not sleeping, it’s just that laws can take a long time to come. So, because of that delay, the Nigerian Medical and Dental Council took up the challenge and said, look, through the Ministry of Health, if they regulate MDCN Act, that may rapidly change things.

“We’ve had several meetings, the document is ready, we are hoping that at some point, the Council will meet and ratify it”.

Earlier, the Chairman of the Local Organising Committee Dr Sunday Onuh said that Nigeria is witnessing reversed medical tourism in the area of fertility treatment as many people are coming from UK and other countries to seek fertility treatment.

He said, “We have seen people who have done IVF five times in the United Kingdom, and they just come here once, and they conceive and go back. This year in my practice alone, I have witnessed 40% of patients from outside the country and the trend is similar with my colleagues because to do a successful IVF cycle in the US is about $20,000 but with $6,000 it takes care of their transport here, accommodation, and their treatment.”

Onu stated that a lot of things are happening and innocent Nigerians are being coerced, you know, to buy stolen babies, being coerced to believe in what does not exist, which they call crypto pregnancy.

“So they will say you are pregnant but you should not go and do scan because scan will not see it and they are paying money, paying money to people.

He said the AFRH international conference, will serve as a dynamic platform for exchanging knowledge, discussing innovative solutions, and fostering collaboration to advance the field of ART and reproductive health in Nigeria.

It will feature two key sub-themes “Groundbreaking Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) and “Advancing ethical practices in third party Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART)”.