Copyright ghanamma
By Laudia Sawer, GNA Tema, Oct. 22, GNA – Professor Titus Beyuo, former General Secretary of the Ghana Medical Association and Member of Parliament for Lambussie, has called for a social dialogue on how to ensure equitable access to fertility services in the country. Prof. Beyuo said those who needed fertility services most were those who lacked access due to geographic and financial barriers. He made the call at the 2025 annual general meeting (AGM) and scientific conference of the Fertility Society of Ghana (FERSOG), held in Tema. The conference was held on the theme: “Reducing the Burden of Infertility in Ghana: Prevention, Fertility, Awareness and Preservation.” “Those who need our services most are those who lack access due to geographic and financial barriers. In the upper West region, almost a million people have no access to even Intra Uterine Insemination; the region has only three gynaecologists.” According to him, even though he was championing fertility issues, his constituents and those in the five northern regions of Ghana could not have access to such fertility services. “If somebody needs IVF in Wa, the person has to come down to Kumasi with all its attendant problems; even getting a specialist in that area is a challenge. There is a huge unmet need for ART services; let us not assume that all the money is in Accra and Kumasi, and some of you get people from those places from Wa and Bolgatanga to come down,” he added. Prof. Beyuo urged stakeholders and practitioners to think of equity in their service, observing that “many tears go unnoticed, many marriages are being dissolved in silence, and many are suffering quietly. Dr Padi Ayertey, the Secretary of the Fertility Society of Ghana (FERSOG), agreed that it was the right of individuals to be able to reproduce, adding that it was also the government’s responsibility to support fertility establishments to help people reach that goal. Dr Ayertey, who is also the Medical Director of Elimmas Health, revealed that anything concerning fertility and health insurance did not support it, as authorities regarded fertility as their business instead of an immediate concern. He described it as unfair for a woman undergoing fertility treatment to pay for a scan which was free for pregnant women and asked for something to be done about it. “We strongly believe that basic investigations for fertility should be met by the NHIS so that they can achieve some progress in the investigation for their disease condition.” He revealed that fertility centres were also faced with the expensive cost of equipment and the payment of full customs duties on them. According to him, interactions with colleagues from Algeria and Tunisia revealed that in their countries, either the full cost of medication is paid for the patient by their government, or half payment was done, lessening the high cost of fertility service on the patient. Touching on accessibility, he suggested that the teaching hospitals should at the very least have In Vitro Fertilisation (IVF) centres, stating that doctors who were currently being trained in reproduction were go to the private sector for their attachments and practicals because the teaching hospitals do not have a full setup. “If each of them has a full setup, patients will be able to receive care at that level of cost, making it a bit lower, while more and more people will be trained as well.”
