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As economic hardship bites harder across Nigeria, many undergraduates and youths in Akwa Ibom State have resorted to selling blood for cash.Others are also donating sperm and eggs at several In-Vitro Fertilisation (IVF) centres in the state, catering to infertile couples and single women desperate for children.
Investigations by LEADERSHIP revealed that these โbusinessesโ are booming in many public and private hospitals.
A senior medical consultant, who pleaded anonymity, confirmed that the trade in blood, sperm, and eggs among young people, especially university students, has become rampant.
He said, โMany of the young people selling these vital resources from their system do so because times are really hard. Some of the students canโt pay their fees because most have lost their parents, some have retired and some are funded by single mothers with no meaningful job or trade.But what we have discovered in some cases is shocking, but good for them because many would come here believing that with their healthy look, they are very okay in their system.โ
A senior nursing officer who runs a private clinic in Uyo also confirmed the trend.
โWhen we screened their blood, we discovered that many donโt even know their health status because they have remained without regular health checks and tests. Many were found to have been infested with different ailments, such as HIV/AIDS and others have symptoms of Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs).So, what we do in such cases is to keep them aside for counselling, advising them to pass through the anti-retrovirus regime because the drug and the treatment are free.
โMany of them would break down, but we will counsel them that such ailments donโt kill people any more, provided one can imbibe the drug administration regime.โ
These disturbing developments dominated discussions at the Catholic Bishopsโ Conference of Nigeria (CBCN), where clergymen condemned what they called โthe growing abuse of IVF treatments in the countryโ and urged the federal government to โquickly regulate fertility clinics to safeguard the citizens from exploitation and health risks.โAt the opening of the CBCNโs Plenary Assembly, hosted at the Catholic Diocese of Ikot Ekpene in Obot Akara local government area, the bishops noted that the practice is now widespread across Nigeria.
Archbishop Lucius Iwejuru Ugorji expressed deep concern over the proliferation of fertility clinics, many of which, he warned, are run by unqualified and unlicensed practitioners.
He said, โThis has exposed clients to financial exploitation, severe medical complications, permanent infertility, and in some cases, death. This situation urgently calls for the governmentโs regulation and ethical guidelines.โ
Archbishop Ugorji also lamented the moral implications of IVF practices, particularly what he described as โthe commodification of human life.โThe cleric revealed that โeven university students now sell their eggs and sperm to fertility centres in exchange for money,โ a trend the church considers morally unacceptable.
โIt is important to draw attention to the teaching of the church, which considers IVF greatly immoral,โ he stressed, adding that โapart from its separation of the unitive and procreative aspects of the marital act, the church insists that each human being and each human embryo has an inherent dignity and right to life.
โAny practice that commodifies or disposes of embryos, or uses them for experimentation, is gravely wrong.
