As part of efforts to reduce the burden of infertility in the country, Nordica Fertility Centre and Fertility Treatment Support Foundation (FTSF) has stated that it would give free and complete In-vitro Fertilisation (IVF) treatment to five indigent couples, as well as provide free screening to 17 lucky couples who participated in its free fertility treatment contest.
The Managing Director of Nordica Fertility Centre, Dr. Ajayi Abayomi, stated this during the raffle draw event, at the Civic Centre, Victoria Island to select the 17 lucky couples, out of which five would be given the free and complete treatment.
The contest which started over a month ago, had entries of over 6,000 couples from various parts of the country, including; Abuja, Kano, Enugu, Rivers, Lagos, among others.
According to him, the idea was to create awareness and educate Nigerians on the importance of IVF, as well as assist indigent couples who have infertility issues, adding that, the beneficiaries would not have to worry about paying for any treatment as the complete cycle would be the responsibility of the foundation.
On how the five couples would be selected out of the lucky 17 that won the contest, he said it would be based purely on medical consideration, as those without complications would be given the slots first.
Continuing, he said one of the major issues still affecting the treatment of IVF in Nigeria was the lack of forums to discuss, adding that the foundation was also set up to address that challenge as well as train and educate doctors, media and the general public on IVF. “We also want people who have successfully gone through IVF to come out and share their stories. Other couples suffering in silence need to hear these stories so that they can be motivated to seek treatment,” he added.
On his part, the Health Editor, Vanguard Newspaper, Mr. Sola Ogundipe, said a lot of couples were going through the agony of infertility but that the challenge of majority of them was financing of the treatment.
“Any time I write about the issue, about 99 per cent of the calls I receive always bother on cost of treatment. Most people are not accessing it because of the financial implication,” he noted.
He, however said that affected couples need not have deep pockets before they can say they are ready, stressing that prioritising the treatment would make them save towards it.
He appealed to those who have benefitted from IVF to come out and share their stories, as it might help other couples. “A lot of couples who have benefitted from IVF are doing a disservice to those who are aspiring to benefit by not talking about it.”
He believes this on the long run would make IVF more affordable as it would demystify the treatment.
Also lending his voice, the officer in charge of Access Bank’s Maternal Health Service Scheme, Mr. Ejike Izejiobi, said the bank has identified financing as the major challenge preventing couples from accessing IVF treatment, hence they decided to put up deliberate initiatives to address it.
“The scheme, which generally targets the health of women, is also aimed at providing loans to couples needing IVF treatments. We can give as high as N4 million, as well as finance a maximum of three different cycles,” adding that accessing the loan was not cumbersome. “All we need to know is that you can pay back so that another couple can benefit from the gesture,” he said.
By: Martins Ifijeh
This Day News
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