Health

Fertility Association Seeks Collaboration, Regulation For Robust Practice

Published

1 year 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

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Health

Stakeholders Applaud A360 Impact On Adolescent Health

Published

3 days ago

November 28, 2025

The Gleamer

Stakeholders in Nigeria’s health and development sector say the institutionalisation and scale-up of the Adolescent 360 (A360) Amplify project have greatly improved adolescent sexual and reproductive health outcomes in participating states.

They made this known at a dissemination meeting on the project on Thursday in Abuja.

It was implemented by the Society for Family Health (SFH) and partners, and later adopted into government systems following documented successes.

Launched in 2020, the A360 project was designed to provide adolescent girls with access to sexual and reproductive health information, youth-friendly services and economic empowerment opportunities.

The programme was implemented in Kano, Jigawa, Kaduna and Nasarawa States using a human-centred design approach that engaged governments, communities and young people to improve uptake of family planning and maternal health services.

Dr Aisha Sadiq, Permanent Secretary, Kaduna State Ministry of Health, said institutionalising A360 had delivered measurable improvements in adolescent health indicators and community wellbeing.

She said Kaduna currently provides A360 youth-friendly services in 623 Primary Health Care (PHC) centres.

The Matasan Mata Arewa (MMA) initiative, she added, had reached 75 communities and empowered more than 15,000 girls with entrepreneurship skills and seed capital.

According to her, more than 60,000 girls have accessed contraceptives through the programme, with a reduction in discontinuation rates as more young women sustain use and transition to maternal and child health services.

“These changes have shown a marked reduction in maternal mortality among those communities. It has also reduced negative neonatal outcomes,” she said.

Sadiq recounted an elderly woman’s remarks from a programme community, calling them a strong reflection of the project’s success.

“These girls have spent their whole lives believing they will remain tolerable liabilities to the husbands they marry, but now they are realising the value of becoming appreciated assets,” she quoted.

Sadiq added that Kaduna’s 16 per cent health budget allocation and the integration of A360 activities into the state’s 2025 Annual Operational Plan demonstrated sustained political commitment.

Also speaking, Dr Omokhudu Idogho, Managing Director, SFH, said the four implementing states had successfully embedded A360 approaches into government systems, community structures and routine health practices.

He was represented by Dr Kenechukwu Erichalo, Deputy Managing Director, Project Delivery.

Idogho said the project had reached more than one million adolescent girls with family planning services and engaged over 500,000 others with comprehensive sexuality education messaging.

“We recorded more than 50,000 antenatal care visits, ensuring that girls received skilled care that saved lives, and supported over half a million girls to learn income-generating skills,” he said.

He said A360 pioneered the MMA and Niger Girls models, demonstrating that culturally sensitive, human-centred programmes can succeed even in conservative communities.

“Our most significant achievement is institutionalisation. Today, all 1,750 A360-supported facilities are fully government-led,” he added.

Mrs Roselyn Odeh, A360 Project Lead, said the initiative was developed in response to poor adolescent health indices in the country.

She said the programme ensured respectful, youth-friendly services at PHCs and supported school reintegration and entrepreneurship for girls.

She said the decision to scale the programme in northern states was based on data.

“When you look at maternal mortality among young people, you know the section of the country it is coming from. Data drove our decisions in alignment with government priorities,” she said.

Odeh identified challenges including weak PHC infrastructure, funding gaps, commodity shortages and the need to engage husbands in conservative communities.

“But creatively, we worked with governments to mobilise domestic funding through health revolving funds and the Basic Healthcare Provision Fund,” she said.

Mr Sagir Musa, Commissioner for Youth, Jigawa State, assured of continued commitment from implementing states to sustain and expand the project’s gains.

“This project may be nearing closure, but for us, it has just begun. We have gone beyond its life cycle to embed its approaches in the things we do,” he said.

The dissemination meeting brought together policymakers, community leaders, development partners and beneficiaries to review lessons learned and outline future priorities for scaling adolescent health interventions nationwide.

(NAN)

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