Why IVF should be included in health insurance coverage — Fertility expert

A fertility expert and chief executive officer of Nordica Fertility Centre, Dr. Abayomi Ajayi, has called for the inclusion of In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) in the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS). IVF is a form of fertility treatment in which fertilization is done outside of the body. It involves retrieving eggs from a woman’s ovaries and […]

A fertility expert and chief executive officer of Nordica Fertility Centre, Dr. Abayomi Ajayi, has called for the inclusion of In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) in the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS).

IVF is a form of fertility treatment in which fertilization is done outside of the body. It involves retrieving eggs from a woman’s ovaries and fertilizing them with a man’s sperm. The fertilized egg, called embryo, is then transferred back to the woman’s uterus or frozen for storage.

Dr Ajayi, however, noted that while knowledge about IVF among Nigerians is better than years before, access to treatment still remains a challenge because of cost.

Speaking yesterday during the nine year-anniversary celebration of Nordica Abuja Centre, he said this has made some people to go to the wrong places to access treatment.

He therefore said at least some parts of IVF treatment should be covered by the NHIS if full health insurance coverage cannot be done.

Dr Ajayi said regulation of IVF practice is a welcome development but that it should be done in line with international best practices and accompanied with policing.

He said his centre in Lagos has commenced the treatment of fibroids using High-Intensity Focused Ultrasound (HIFU).

He said the treatment does not use iodizing radiation but real-time ultrasound waves to generate localised heat to specifically target fibroid and destroy it.

He said, “Now, one of the beauties of HIFU is that it is a targeted treatment. It converts ultrasonic sound energy to heat energy and concentrates it at that focal point. So it is the only focal point where the heat is effective. It just hits the fibroid, and the endometrium surrounding it is not affected.”

He said this is unlike surgery for fibroids where the doctor has to cut through muscles and there is weakness.

“After three months, if we check and see that everything is okay, you can proceed to have a baby. It does not affect your womb. So it is very well suited for people who want to have children.

“However, HIFU is not for treating infertility. Because where your partner’s sperm count is low, you cannot do HIFU and say, you can’t get pregnant. HIFU is not for infertility. It is for fibroids,” he added.

The expert however added that certain things are taken into consideration such as the type and location of the fibroid as well as health condition of the patient before HIFU is performed for fibroids.

He enjoined Nigerians to acquaint themselves with what IVF can deliver and cannot deliver, particularly how to prepare for it and its success and failure rates.

He said smoking for instance reduce IVF success rate by at least 50%. He said large body mass index (BMI) also affects IVF success rates.

Asked the age a woman’s eggs can be used for IVF treatment he said, “There’s no fixed age because there are individual differences. There are some people at 32 years that their eggs can’t be used because their hormones don’t produce eggs. But generally, people who are about 41 years are those who usually talk about donor eggs, but some people get it earlier. The oldest woman whose eggs we used at my centre is 43.”