Source: Daily Trust
In-Vitro Fertilisation (IVF) is a human reproductive technique that has not been totally embraced by Nigerians. But at the 10th anniversary press briefing held in Lagos, Dr Abayomi Ajayi, Managing Director, Nordica Fertility Centre told Daily Trust that it is not just the ordinary Nigerian that is suffering from the ignorance, some elites have the same issues.

How will you describe Nordica's journey in the last ten years in Nigeria?

When we came on board, In-Vitro Fertilisation (IVF) was probably at its infancy level in Nigeria. We realized that many Nigerians could not identify with IVF because there was little or no awareness campaign. But with our coming on board, I will say we have helped in spreading enlightenment/awareness campaign in the country.

We hosted lots of awareness programmes using radio and televisions, wrote columns that were published in newspapers and magazines, distributed leaflets and handbills, among various other enlightenment campaigns.

Our conviction of course is that if people are not enlightened, how will they differentiate us from other Tom, Dick and Harry who have found their way into the system? We have improved the status of IVF better than we met it in Nigeria ten years ago.

We can also say today is better than yesterday and I hope tomorrow can still be better. However, I must be quick to add that IVF in Nigeria is still at the infancy stage. So far, we are still scratching the surface.

........Scratching the surface?

Yes. This is because one of the greatest challenges this profession is facing in Nigeria, is that we still have people going around with the wrong perception of what IVF is. There are Christians in the country who believe IVF is anti-Christ. That is quite sad. I am a Christian and I know that the knowledge of science and faith go side by side.

A pastor visited us here in our office and he was taken around all our facilities and departments. When he completed his tour, he asked me if this is all that are involved and I answered yes. He couldn't believe it. He said there are so many misconceptions out there and that I should come to his church to enlighten his congregation.

So, we believe a lot of work still has to be done in changing people's perception and orientation about what we are doing.

So if you agree that religious fanaticism still hinders IVF growth in Nigeria, is there an alternative?

My explanation is that what people don't understand, they tend to look for a convenient way out of it. Whether Muhammed or Jesus, I think we all serve the same God. Someone was accusing me sometimes ago that even though I am a deacon, I am not speaking like one because I seemed to have forgotten what the scripture says about human reproduction. But I think the time has come for us as practitioners to start educating people with facts and data so as to change their orientations.

Looking back, how many number of children will you say Nordica centre has produced through IVF?

I have stopped keeping figure since we recorded our 1000th babies. This is because if you are not careful, it will make you feel you are doing something spectacular when indeed you are not. There is an adage that says in the land of the blinds, the one-eyed man, is the king.

The population of Nigeria is about 160 million if not more, so when compared with what we have done you will discover that it is still like a drop in an ocean. I visited a country that has a lesser population to Nigeria sometimes ago, and I discovered virtually all their towns and streets are lined with IVF centres.

In one of the clinics, I discovered they were producing like 4,000 babies in a town that has less than five million populations. One of the people from that clinic is now working with us here.

So for me, when I wake up in the morning, I do feel hungry and the urge to do more. So after we recorded about a 1000th babies, I told my people to keep the figures, but for me, we need to still do lots more. Nigeria is about 50 years behind in IVF, we cannot start celebrating yet.

What appears to be more important to me is to record 60 to 70 percent success rate. That is, if 10 people come into this place, I want to ensure that at least I get six or seven of them pregnant.

If I can start achieving that, then I will be satisfied that we are performing. Some years ago, 25 percent is the industry standard but that has increased in recent years. So, until we reach that stage we can say, no matter what age you come in here and is able to get pregnant, we can't really say we have arrived.

There is a general belief that babies born with IVF end up having one deformity or the other, what is your reaction to that?

Our operation here is in conjunction with the Nordica in Denmark. It is a franchise. And today over five million babies across the world have been born through IVF process. All the babies born in our centre in Lagos, Asaba and Abuja are without deformities so far.

Even though we have said there is no age limit to child bearing, we must also note that fertility reduces in women as they age. In Nordica, we have restricted the age limit to 55 years. Of course that is not scientific but we just have it as part of our policy because we realize that one needs to be fit and agile to do certain things.

But if one is older and agile, there is no age-limit to the usage of IVF service.

There are many Nigerians who desire IVF services but often complain about the cost, what is your explanation on this?

Expenses incur in providing IVF services across the world. It is not cheap because it is technologically powered. It is like the smart phones our people carry around. It doesn't come cheap. And when we talk about high cost of providing the services, we have to look at the Nigerian case alongside other countries.

This is a country where we import virtually everything we use even to the ridiculous level of the water we use. For instance we can't use the tap water we have here to rinse the egg during fertilization process. And you see anytime I look around Lagos or any other part of Nigeria and I see people driving big Tokunbo cars, I do say to myself, indeed we are in business.

Because those who can afford big Tokunbo cars can in fact afford IVF services. To bring down the cost, we are ready to partner with government to establish more centres across the country that will be accessible to people who do not have the means to approach and benefit from our services.

Specifically, what is your centre doing about high cost of services and affordability for the poor?

At Nordica, we have in place what we call Fertility Treatment Support Foundation (FTSF). It started in 2008. We realized that there are people out there who cannot afford our services. There are so many people who have resigned to their fate because of the cost of our service. We felt there is a need to let them also tap in. We are concerned about the plights of those people. But we have to realize that whatever effort we have discharged in that regard is like a drop in the ocean.

We are calling on other well meaning Nigerians to partner with us so that we can provide these services to as many Nigerians as possible.

Beyond the challenges of fanaticism which you earlier mentioned, are there other things, impeding your operation?

What makes a man successful is the number of challenges he has been able to surmount. I really don't think there are exceptional challenges we are facing that are not being faced by other professional and other businesses in Nigeria. But I think government should be more interested in what we are doing.

I said this because this profession needs close working relationship with government agencies such as Standard organization of Nigeria (SON), the custom, National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC).

This is because they really need to understand what the profession is all about and also understand some of the drugs we require to carry out our operations successfully.

Most of the drugs we use are imported especially from Norway and Denmark. But whenever these drugs berth in Nigeria, you will be surprised that officers of these agencies will simply impound them and ask us to come and see them in their offices.

Curiously this has become a repeated occurrences and I do wonder if they haven't realized what we are into and the kinds of drugs required to treat our patients. If questions are being raised on the quality or standard of those drugs, I think that is okay but to be asking questions on why such drugs are imported over and over time could be quite frustrating.

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