By Enyichukwu Enemanna
An expert in Nigeria’s health sector has called on authorities to include In-Vitro Fertilization treatment (IVF) in health insurance coverage as a means of providing support for families who have childbearing-related issues.
He accused government of not paying adequate attention to fertility treatment, saying several insurance companies in health sector overlook fertility aspect and do not want to get involved in IVF treatment.
The Chief Medical Director of Deda hospital, Dr. Sunday Onuh, who spoke at the launch the Radiography Unit of the hospital, disclosed that in January, the Medical Unit of the Central Bank of Nigeria took the step by signing into law, to sponsor their staff with challenge in child birth, particularly those who have primary infertility.
He said: “Insurance generally, either National Health Insurance Scheme or private health insurance, none have delve into and that is an area government can come in and help the masses.”
He expressed concern over the high import duty on IVF product, which he said leads to high cost of treatment
He appealed to government to reduce import duty on the product and provide foreign exchange for import of IVF products to make the treatment more affordable.
“These are ways government can come in and make things affordable. If import duty is so high, exchange rate is high cost to the consumer will be high but if those things go down cost to the consumer will be low,” he stated.
Data obtained from Macrotrends says Nigeria’s 2023 fertility rate currently put at 5.076 births per woman, is a 1.32% decline from that of 2022 which was 5.144 births per woman.
Similarly, the 2022 figure is also a 1.3% decline from 2021, which was 5.212 births per woman.
