Fertility preservation is becoming increasingly important to improve the quality of life for cancer survivors. Patients may not be aware of their options for preserving fertility as they focus on their cancer diagnosis and treatment.
Owing to more-aggressive and advanced treatment, an increasing number of cancer patients do usually suffer infertility as a direct effect of cancer. Worldwide, millions of individuals in the reproductive age group are affected by cancer, Nigeria inclusive.
More often it is cancer treatment such as radiotherapy, chemotherapy or surgery, which results in reduced fertility, early menopause or even sterility in cancer survivor.
Nigeria’s cancer death ratio of 4 in 5 affected persons is one of the worst in the world and is responsible for 3 per cent of total mortality leading to 72, 000 death per annum says World Health Organisation (WHO).
An expert in fertility has said that there are gaps in Nigeria in our perceptive of the clinical techniques, and patient and provider awareness, particularly for young women and girls diagnosed with cancer.
“There is need for oncofertility counselling for women in Nigeria in order to spread awareness and help patients preserve their fertility after chemotherapy,” said Abayomi Ajayi, specialist in obstetrics and gynaecology and the Chief Executive Officer of Nordica Fertility Centre, Lagos, at theAssociation for Fertility
Available statistics shows that there are about 12 million infertile persons in Nigeria, which is almost 10 percent of the total population.
Ajayi said that the oncofertility counselling will help patients in high survivorship and provide good quality of life.
“There needs to be a change from an old way of thinking to a new one, as this field of oncofertility expands. There exists in Nigeria urgency to clarify and update patients on oncofertility services that are provided on a global scale in order to share best practice” he said.
Fertility preservation aims to preserve reproductive tissues for future use. Oncofertility is a term coined for fertility preservation in cancer patients. Oncofertility counselling with specialists including oncologists and psychologists can reduce stress and improve quality of life.
Often, men and women, who have been diagnosed with cancer, may not be comfortable about bringing their fertility issues to the forefront. Unfortunately, fertility preservation services are rarely offered or even discussed with the patient before starting cancer therapy.
Studies have shown that infertility is a significant survival concern. Patients who received information regarding their sexual and reproductive health had lower levels of psychological distress than patients who did not receive this information. An informed decision reduces reproductive regret in these young men and women.
Ajayi said there are several barriers that face oncofertiltiy practise in Nigeria; “we have to look at social, cultural, religion, lack of institution and research fund and the issues of cost, and other barriers such as lack of awareness among oncologist, gynaecologist and patients.”
Fertility treatments are not covered by health insurance in Nigeria and over 90 per cent of fertility service in Nigeria is provided in private centres and clinics , but some In-vitro fertilisation treatment (IVF) centre at university hospitals may offer low cost service and some charity organisations are now coming up to support patients who have the resources to pay.
“In spite of different barriers, oncofertility has a great potential in Nigeria, areas for improvement in this growing field can be addressed through collaboration of relevant professionals and government bodies” he said.
The expert further said that advancement in reproduction technology have given cancer survivors hoped for future reproduction which makes the fertility preservation conversation more important than ever.
“Fertility preservation is deemed an important aspect of post treatment quality of life. It is new in Nigeria, it is not a thing the country can do for now,” Ajayi said.
ANTHONIA OBOKOH
