TIME TO REGULATE FERTILITY MEDICINE

Legislation is needed to set standards for assisted reproductive procedures

If there is one area of healthcare in Nigeria that has not enjoyed robust regulation, it is the Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) branch. It has for long been overlooked by governments and experts in the field who, in fact, should set standards and checkmate activities of practitioners of this branch of science. From human egg harvesting, in-vitro fertilisation itself, up to advertorials on ART success rates, many practitioners in Nigeria are having a field day without much monitoring; all at the expense of patients who crave for these all-important public and social health services.

In a recent investigation by Aljazeera, some fertility clinics in the country are harvesting eggs of young girls in exchange for money. In many cases, underage victims are coerced into trading their eggs monthly even though the World Health Organisation (WHO) has said no one female should have her eggs harvested more than twice a year. The health body has also stated that egg harvesting, just like blood donation, must not be traded for financial gains.

There are several other reports of substandard services to couples seeking in-vitro fertilisation with some not only disappointed with failed outcomes but end up having serious health concerns relating to their procedures. Others have had to pay huge amounts so they can get young, and in many cases, underage girls, to carry their unborn babies. Some simply buy these babies under the arrangement of fraudulent ART centres. All these orchestrated by otherwise trusted fertility clinics in the country.

It is estimated that at least one in four Nigerian couples will have one or more forms of fertility issues. Pressure from the Nigerian society on childbearing pushes a chunk of these couples to seek artificial reproductive assistance. However, laws and policies are not being developed fast enough to meet the demands of this growing industry; a loophole that has now been taken advantage of by quacks and even some otherwise known fertility clinics.

Recently, the Managing Director, Nordica Fertility Centre, Dr. Abayomi Ajayi raised the alarm that lack of regulation of the branch of science was having a field day in the country. “More than 60 per cent of people offering IVF service in the country do not have the facilities but due to the perceived financial benefits and patronage, doctors and health workers who know little or nothing about IVF have continued to take advantage of couples in need by offering services. I am calling for the strengthening of regulations in this area of medicine,” he said.

A Bill for the establishment of a Nigerian Assisted Reproduction Authority to regulate this practice was presented before the National Assembly and read for the second time on 2nd May 2012. It was referred to the Committees on Health and Justice at the time. It is almost 10 years now, and it has not been passed into law. Although some practitioners kicked against the bill at the time saying it was a ‘copy and paste’ from East Africa, the onus is on the legislators and the stakeholders to remodel the bill. Nothing has been done so far on this. Except Lagos which has passed a law on IVF, the remaining 35 states are yet to enact any legislation to regulate fertility medicine.

Although some practitioners in Nigeria have formed the Association for Fertility and Reproductive Health (AFRH) to produce ethical guidelines that would govern the practice of assisted conception in the country, they cannot enforce these guidelines. Legislations from the National Assembly and the states houses of assembly are therefore required to properly regulate the sector. In the Nigerian society, fertility is not just about health, it is a serious social issue that requires every attention it deserves.