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| 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.”
