Health

Fertility Association Seeks Collaboration, Regulation For Robust Practice

Published

15 hours ago

September 20, 2024

The Association for Fertility and Reproductive Health (AFRH), has called for collaboration and robust regulation for the practice of Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) in Nigeria.

The President, Prof. Preye Fiebai, made the call on Thursday in Abuja, at the opening ceremony of the association’s 14th Annual International Conference.

The conference is themed “Collaboration for Assisted Reproductive Techno- logy (ART): Global Best Practices in Nigeria”.

According to Fiebai, ART in Nigeria has made a lot of progress, but collaboration is the key to accelerating the said progress.

“To elevate Nigeria’s ART sector to global standards, we must foster collaboration across multiple sectors.

“Reproductive health specialists in Nigeria must collaborate nationally and with international experts to share knowledge, skills and technological advancements.”
He said that ethical guidelines and remarkable advances have emerged from countries at the forefront of ART and that domestication of global best practices could shape the future of the field in Nigeria.

According to the president, robust frameworks for ART practices, research and regulation have been established in the said countries, including adherence to ethical standards to protect the rights and health of patients, donors and resulting offspring.
Fiebai emphasised that establishing clear and comprehensive regulatory frameworks was long overdue, stressing the need for robust legal frameworks to ensure transparent and well-defined protocols.

He said that Lagos State had set the ball rolling with the establishment of guidelines for ART practice in the state, a feat that should be replicated across the country.
He, however, said that the National Assembly had made several attempts to pass a law and all stakeholders in the sector must collaborate to make it a reality.

The president also advocated for research partnerships, Public-Private Partnerships and cultural and community engagements for traditional and religious leaders.
This, he said, was because understanding the cultural and societal nuances surrounding infertility in Nigeria was vital to building ART services that arre not only medically effective but also socially acceptable.

Describing the important role ART plays, Fiebai said that it offered a pathway to fulfilling the dreams of parenthood for many couples experiencing infertility, especially at a time when fertility rates are declining worldwide.

He added that Nigeria had witnessed a growing demand for ART services due to increasing awareness and social acceptance.

Dr Yusuf Sununu, Minister of State for Education, emphasised the necessity of collaboration, stating that the government cannot achieve its goals alone.
He highlighted the importance of sharing resources and risks to attain a common objective.

Sununu who was the Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Health Care Services in the 10th National Assembly, however, said that some medical practices required an Act of Parliament for proper guidance and protection.

“We need protection, we need to be guided. Certain litigations are left at the discretion of judges because there are no enabling laws and most of the times, practitioners are the ones who suffer.

“Our elders, they have done so much in training us, we need to also sit down and develop what we can do to protect our practice, to ensure that what we are doing is within the ethics of our profession.”

He also said that because the practice of ART was expensive, resources must be put together to make progress.

“The cost of practicing medicine has skyrocketed. Equipment that was once readily affordable now threatens to deplete our clinic’s resources. Even a single purchase would significantly strain our assets.

“There is a pressing need for a dedicated funding mechanism, such as a bank or fund that provides single-digit interest loans.

“While the Bank of Industry exists, we require a specialised institution catering exclusively to healthcare practitioners.

“Currently, we’re losing billions of dollars in foreign exchange due to Nigerians seeking medical care abroad.”

Speaking about the theme of the conference, the Chairman, Local Organising Committee, Dr Sunday Onuh, said that it underscored the practitioners’ relentless pursuit of excellence and collaboration in the field of ART.

“We stand on the threshold of revolutionary breakthroughs, and gatherings like this catalyse our collective progress toward achieving these ambitious goals.

“This year’s conference aims to promote ethical standards and regulate the practice of Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART), with a specific focus on third-party ART.”
The reports have it that the three-day conference which began on Wednesday will end on Friday.
NAN

Share on Facebook

Health

Proposed GMO Mosquitoes: Africans Advised To Be Wary Of WHO

Published

4 days ago

September 16, 2024

The Gleamer

By Chinasa Obidi

Kenyan Dr Wahome Ngare, the founding Director of Mercy Health Services, Nairobi, Kenya, has advised Africans to be wary of the World Health Organisation, WHO’s proposed introduction of GMO mosquitoes into Africa to eradicate malaria, as well as the malaria vaccine which he says will be made compulsory.”

But malaria is a treatable disease which we have been using our herbal teas to treat, plus we are unaware of the risks such GMO mosquitoes would bring,” he said, calling on Africans to exercise caution in this regard.

He said that while the WHO has done a lot of good things for the continent, it has equally done things that have affected Africa and Africans negatively making him advice African countries to exercise caution.He expressed this warning while addressing Ugandan President, Yoweri Kaguta Museveni in a trending video.

He gave his reasons for sounding the warning this: “In 2014/2015, WHO brought tetanus eradication campaign in our country; a campaign to eradicate neonatal tetanus.

“The vaccine that was used is a different type of tetanus vaccine that is fertility regulating, where they take tetanus and a hormone called Human Chorionic Conadotropin, and when you inject a woman with that vaccine, she produces antibodies against that hormone and is therefore rendered sterile.

“So we are now seeing an increase in infertility cases amongst young couples who are certified okay when examined, but cannot get children, or couples who are losing three to five pregnancies before they are able to cary any pregnancy to term.

“We were able to expose this through a paper we published, and fortunately in 2017, WHO said Kenya is now free of neonatal tetanus and they left our country.”But they developed this vaccine in an over twenty year period of research from 1972 to 1992 and used that vaccine in South America and possibly many other African countries.

“Responding to this call, Benjamin Amodu, a professor of Phytho-medicine from the Triune Biblical University, USA, who has been at the forefront of advocating for the use of herbal medicine, said Nigerians and Indeed Africans should also evaluate and verify any treatment or vaccine that is given to them before going ahead to use them.

“I think this is a very common view all around . I think we can cooperate with the WHO in most of the things and we can also evaluate to see that is in line with our own aspiration as a country just like the Ugandan and Kenyan doctors did to their president.

“It is a welcome development. We should ensure that whatever is being brought upon us should be well evaluated to see and if there are needs for modification, they should be modified to the interest of who they are introducing the the programme to.

” Even their comment on malaria, I think the WHO should be more open. Irrespective of where whatever treatment or vaccine is coming from, so long as it meets the requirements should be accepted and adopted so we move forward.

“I therefore call on African leaders and people to exercise faith in our God given natural herbs , carry out extensive research and promote it because even diseases for which the cures have eluded modern medicine for decades are being effectively cured with the use of Traditional, Complimentary and Herbal Medicines, TCAM, without any side effects.”

It would be recalled that Prof Amodu’s malaria cure was evaluated by the United Nations and found to be more effective than chloroquine and palaudrine.

Share on Facebook