Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH) said it has taken delivery of 74 babies at its Institute of Fertility Medicine (IFM) through affordable Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART).
LASUTH Chief Medical Director, Adewale Oke, who was represented by Ayoade Adedokun, LASUTH Head of Clinical Services and Training, said the feat was a milestone to be celebrated and the beginning of better things to come for the institution.
“This is an epoch-making occasion, as we celebrate the birth through ART of 74 babies of mothers who were hitherto condemned, but through the help of God and IFM they are able to carry their babies,” he said.
The CMD said African women who could not procreate were usually ostracised and rejected and as such, became very depressed.
Chairman of the Institute, Dr. Adetokunbo Adebanwo, said the IFM was designed to make the ART services available at affordable rate, specifically at a quarter of the original cost.
Adebanwo, who stated that such services cost between N1 million to N2 million for a circle in private facilities, said the IFM presently provide same quality service at N400, 000, adding that plans were on to further reduce the price to as low as N250, 000 to ensure that indigent couples who battle infertility are not left out.
He said LASUTH had signed a memorandum of Understanding with the Bridge Clinic, which created the IFM in May and started operation in August of 2011.
He said: “The idea was that Bridge Clinic would partner with LASUTH’s Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecologist and in the process transfer knowledge and technology to LASUTH in five years.
The technology is able to bypass a lot of infertility hurdle to achieve conception. Yet, globally, only 35 per cent success rate could be achieved in the use of ART. IFM has recorded between 38 to 40 per cent success rate so far.
“To achieve 25 per cent further reduction, IFM would partner some pharmaceutical companies to get drugs at a very cheap rate, and this would enable the facility further reduce the cost of a circle of ART by N150, 000.
“So far, originally, the IFM aims to achieve autonomy and break away from the Bridge Clinic after five years of the initiative, but now the MoU has lasted six years,” he said.
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