New ART guidelines will curb quackery in IVF, regulate practice in Lagos, says Idris

The Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Dr Jide Idris, has said the Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) guidelines released will help check quackery and regulate the practice of Intro-Vitro-Fertilisation and other fertility medicines in Lagos State.

The commissioner stated this at the unveiling of a new document, ART Practice in Lagos State, Regulations and Guidelines, in Lagos, put together by the Association for Fertility and Reproductive Health and the Health Facility Monitoring and Accreditation Agency.

“The policy document is a crystallisation of effort that is geared to bring order, decorum and professionalism to this vital arm of management option for infertile couples. It specifically addresses issues like registration, accreditation, and renewal of clinics as well as the minimum standards for practices especially with regards to various ethical issues in assisted reproductive technology.

“The landscape of health care is changing every day and as Nigerians, we must not be left behind. We are talking about the issue of quality, ethics and all these things are engraved in the new guideline,” Idris said.

President, Association for Fertility and Reproductive Health (AFRH), Dr. Ibrahim Wada, said the collaborative efforts from private practitioners and experts from the public sector in fertility medicine was what culminated in the new guidelines.

“The issue of fertility is very pertinent all over the world. The anxiety is more when the couples find out their chances of having children get dimmer with time and increasing age. Many have fallen prey to those who have no medical training at all, as well as those who have some form of medical training, but without expertise in reproductive medicine,” Wada said.

He further added that the document would ensure practitioners follow the ethical standards as well as eradicate illegal practices in the medical field.