President Bola Tinubu has commissioned a modern Infertility and Assisted Reproductive Technology Centre at the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University Teaching Hospital in Bauchi, bringing advanced fertility care to the North-East and ending a situation in which patients from the region had to travel to Abuja or even to Niger and Cameroon for treatment they could not access locally.

Represented at the commissioning ceremony by Chief Medical Director of the hospital Professor Yusuf Bara Jibrin, Tinubu said the center represented hope, innovation, and the government’s commitment to delivering world-class healthcare services to Nigerians. He highlighted two of its most significant capabilities: the Computer Assisted Semen Analysis system, which uses automated imaging and software to assess sperm quality within minutes with greater accuracy than manual methods, and the Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection workstation, which allows specialists to directly inject a single sperm into an egg in cases of severe male infertility, improving fertilization success rates. The centre also supports embryo screening for genetic conditions including sickle cell disease.

Professor Sa’idu Kadas, Director of the Centre, said hospital records showed that approximately six in every ten patients presenting at the gynaecological clinic sought help for infertility-related issues, describing infertility as a growing public health concern with significant psychological and social consequences beyond its medical dimensions.

Bauchi State Commissioner for Health and Social Welfare Dr. Sani Mohammed Dambam commended the federal government for the initiative, saying the centre boosted healthcare delivery not only in Bauchi but across the country. He said the project aligned with Governor Bala Abdulkadir Mohammed’s health sector priorities.

The Chairman of the State Primary Health Care Development Board Dr. Rilwanu Mohammed said the center was a landmark achievement that would restore hope to thousands of families, and called on management to ensure services remained affordable so that ordinary people could access treatment.