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| Merck Foundation Chief Executive Rasha Kelej |
Women with infertility problems in East Africa will soon benefit from the first ever public hospital to offer in vitro fertilisation (IVF) services in the region.
The fertility centre, currently under construction in Kampala, Uganda, after a deal with Merck Foundation, will be opened to the public in March 2018.
The centre will improve access to safe and regulated fertility care in sub-Saharan countries including Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, Zambia, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Gambia, Ghana, Ethiopia and Cote d’Ivoire.
According to a recently released report by the World Population Data, prepared by US-based Population Reference Bureau, Kenya’s fertility rate stands at 3.9 which is below Africa’s average of 4.6 or about five children for every woman, but still higher than the global average of 2.5.
In East Africa, Burundi tops the list with a fertility rate of 5.5, or nearly six children for every woman, followed by Uganda (5.4), Tanzania (5.2), Ethiopia (4.6), Rwanda (4.2) and Kenya (3.9).
