Fertility specialists describe a rise in foreigners travelling to Nigeria for in‑vitro fertilisation, identify high treatment costs driven by imports, and call for regulation, insurance cover, and local drug production.
Poor reporting of fertility treatment cycles limits Nigeria’s ability to draw investment and manufacturer attention.
Calls at a joint AFRH–AFFS conference included stronger regulation of assisted reproductive technology and wider health insurance coverage for infertility care.
Fertility specialists at a joint meeting of the Association for Fertility and Reproductive Health (AFRH) and the African Federation of Fertility Societies (AFFS) said Nigeria is seeing a rise in foreign patients seeking assisted reproductive services, including in‑vitro fertilisation (IVF). Experts described the trend as reverse medical tourism: patients coming into Nigeria because treatment is comparatively less expensive than elsewhere in Africa and in the diaspora.
What is changing in Nigeria's fertility sector
IVF remains expensive for many Nigerians. Experts identified the main cost driver as reliance on imported medicines, consumables, and equipment. "The cost of IVF treatment is still high, because of the cost of providing what you require. The majority of what is utilised is imported. The drugs are imported. We don't really produce much in Nigeria," AFRH president Prof. Preye Fiebai said.
He urged investment and collaboration to develop local alternatives that could lower prices. Some local institutions, such as the Institute for Medical Science in Africa in Abuja, are already working on reproductive health research and local solutions.
Poor reporting of the number of IVF cycles performed in Nigeria reduces the country's visibility to international manufacturers and investors. Fiebai warned that underreporting makes it harder to attract pharmaceutical companies and scale local production.
Experts at the conference also called for stronger regulation of assisted reproductive technology and expanded health insurance coverage to improve access for Nigerians living with infertility. They pointed to World Health Organization recognition of infertility as a medical condition deserving appropriate care, and argued infertility services should receive comparable attention and financing to other medical conditions.
Implications for patients and the health system
For prospective patients: Nigeria may offer competitive pricing for IVF relative to some other destinations, but treatment costs remain high for many due to imported supplies. For policy makers and funders: expanding local production of fertility drugs, improving cycle reporting, setting clearer regulations, and increasing insurance coverage are concrete steps that could reduce costs and widen access.
September 24 to 26, where these issues were expected to be discussed further. Progress on local drug manufacturing, better data collection on treatment volumes, and any policy moves on insurance coverage or regulation will determine whether the current trend toward inbound fertility patients grows or stalls.
[This Day] · Experts seek regulation, insurance coverage, local production of fertility drugs
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