The Chief Medical Director (CMD) of the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital (UITH), Professor Abdulwaheed Olajide Olatinwo, has called on the federal government to give special consideration to treatment of infertility under the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS).
Olatinwo, who made the call on Thursday (February 15, 2018) while delivering his inaugural lecture at the University auditorium, said separate treatment of infertility under the NHIS programme would practically ease the burden on the affected individuals.
Olatinwo, who is a Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology, explained that Infertility should be made a public health issue because it is socially constricted, existing at the crossroads of medical and social realms.
The don said in the 178th inaugural lecture titled “Help for the helpless and hope for the hopeless: The Medicine of Reproductive Possibility ” that children are the reward of marriage, saying that any marriage with reproductive problem usually experience psychological trauma, unpleasant situation and social stigmatisation.
He therefore advocated speedy passage of the Bill on the establishment of the “Nigerian Assisted Reproduction Authority”
presented by the Association of Fertility and Reproductive Health (AFRH-Nigeria) to the National
Assembly.
According to him, the bill when passed into law, would be a good starting point for regulation of Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) practice in Nigeria.
Olatinwo also called on the government to expedite action on achieving universal health coverage for the citizens as a vehicle for achieving qualitative healthcare for all.
He disclosed that public financing of IVF must be considered, as infertility is a disability of the reproductive system like diseases of other body systems.
He equally urged the government to support the private firms, which are currently the main providers of IVF services, by way of reducing or even waiving taxes on
equipment for IVF, drugs, and consumables.
This, he said, would significantly reduce the cost of treatment, thereby making IVF services more affordable.
He also stressed the need for strong regulatory bodies to
regulate all aspects of ART practice to make the service efficient and safe.
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