By Lamidi Bamidele

Bridge Clinic has marked 20 years of its existence with the founder, Dr. Richardson Ajayi calling for an end to medical tourism.

Speaking with newsmen at the event organised to mark the occasion, Ajayi said, when he was abroad he was amazed at the number of Nigerians trooping overseas for solution to their ailments.

According to him “I am surprised at the large number of Nigerians, who were coming to the United Kingdom and other countries in Europe and Asia for treatment of simple ailments like infertility and others. After a few years of watching them, my entrepreneurial nerve started to twitch and I thought to myself, there’s a major opportunity in Nigeria”

Thus, Ajayi said in 1999, Bridge clinic Fertility centre, renowned Intro Fertilization IVF centre was ‘born’ in Lagos and celebrated 20 years of its existence recently. With more than 2,550 live births from IVF, Bridge Clinic has grown to become Nigeria’s most fertile fertility centre with an average of one baby in three days.

Bridge Clinic, he said, consists of a team of consultant gynaecologists, medical officers and nurses supported by skilled team of embryologists among whom is Dr. Babatunde Ogunniran, a consultant gynaecologist.

Ogunniran further shed more light on infertility and achievements recorded so far by the Clinic. “Many couples are coming here not only from Nigeria but from the US, Canada, London and all parts of the world just because of this concern for infertility. Looking at the concept of infertility, in this part of the world, there are always criticisms when a couple marries and conception does not happen within a year and the question is usually what is happening and where the problem is coming from. We have   come to discover that about 30 percent of cases of infertility are actually due to male factor, 30 percent is from female factor, and another 30 percent is the combination of male and female while 5 to 10 percent is actually due to unexplained infertility.”

According to Ogunniran “The success rate of IVF worldwide is about 35 percent, but the story has changed at Bridge clinic. Over time, the success rate has been 40-52 percent which is a good success story. At Bridge Clinic, we stand for ethics and honesty, we are open, innovative and we always bring a lot of standard operating procedures which also help us in our practice. We send our doctors, nurses, embryologists and other members of staff abroad so that latest inventions can also be implemented in our practice’

Dr Richardson Ajay, founder of Bridge Clinic was also instrumental to the founding of SYNLAB Nigeria in 2004, another significant milestone in healthcare sector in Nigeria. Bridge Clinic is also in partnership with LASUTH. It set up and manages the Institute of fertility Medicine (IFM) at LASUTH, an initiative which   recognises that not everyone can afford the fees associated with specialist care.