By Mary Ekah

There are about 12 million infertile persons in Nigeria, which is almost 10 per cent of the total population. To this group of people, any form of access to effective treatment is priority. It is their valid or legitimate right in a democratic society like ours to have this right to life’s treatment. The Nigerian cultural background of social isolation of infertile couples has made Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART)
practice in Nigeria relevant.


This is the position of the Association for Fertility and Reproductive Health (AFRH), while announcing its readiness to host an international conference, billed for Lagos in September this year.
AFRH, in its bid to add innovative value to the Nigerian health sector, explained that the conference will articulate amongst several sensitive issues; ethics in vitro fertilization (IVF), new technologies in IVF, low cost IVF in Nigeria, role of reproductive surgery and quality control.


The theme for this year’s conference according to a statement made available by Dr. Tayo Abiara, Publicity Secretary, Local Organising Committee (LOC) of the association is, “Improving Pregnancy Rates of IVF in Africa”. According to the statement, one of the unique aspects of the conference is the seminar, which will feature presentation of papers by industry giants amongst other intellectual discourse. “
Plenary lectures by noted luminaries in the field will address state-of-the-art issues in reproductive medicine and science. The 2014 Conference will play host to over 500 delegates, with attendance from Nigeria, other African countries, UK, USA and other western countries,” the statement read in part.


Source: ThisDay