Govt to introduce fertility law—AG Kiryowa

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Attorney General Kiryowa Kiwanuka has said the Government will introduce a fertility treatment law, also known as human assisted reproductive technology, in Uganda.

This was during a plenary session of Parliament on Wednesday (March 18), which was considering the Human Assisted Reproductive Technology Bill, 2023, tabled by Tororo Municipality MP Sarah Opendi.

Kiryowa told the House, chaired by Speaker Anita Among, that the Ministry of Health had engaged Opendi to harmonise her Bill with a similar Government proposal.

“They (ministry of health officials) had the same Bill; they had finished the regulatory impact assessment, had gone through the principles and had started the drafting, so the two parties were harmonising, and before that could happen, we entered into this new space,” he said.

“But again, this Bill [of Opendi] will be brought by the Government. So, I pray that this Bill be withdrawn or it lapses and be brought by the Government,” Kiryowa added.

Speaker Anita Among during plenary. (Courtesy: X/@Parliament_Ug)

Opendi was not in the House to respond. However, the Speaker agreed with Kiryowa. “We already had resolved that the Government would take this (Bill) over, as a similar version was before cabinet. We can stand over it and wait for the mover,” she ruled.

The Bill, which had been called for a second reading, was scrutinised by the parliamentary committee on health.

What the Bill seeks to address

The Bill seeks to regulate the use of human assisted reproductive technology, designate the Medical and Dental Practitioners Council as the body responsible for administering the law, provide for the designation of health units as fertility centres, and establish sperm, oocyte and embryo banks within those centres.

It also seeks to regulate the donation and storage of gametes or embryos, outline the rights and duties of persons involved in human assisted reproductive technology, safeguard the rights of children born through such procedures, and provide for a register of information collected under the Act.

Call for wider consultations

While appearing before the committee in April 2024, the assistant commissioner at the Uganda Law Reform Commission, Jeroline Akubu, said it was important that Ugandans were widely consulted on the matter.

“It has far-reaching implications for the parties and the children born out of it, and I think it is good to be exhaustive,’’ she said.

Rising infertility concerns

Experts say the Bill comes at a time when the country is grappling with a high infertility rate. According to the Ministry of Health, between 10 and 15% of couples in Uganda are unable to have children due to infertility.

Some of these couples have turned to assisted reproductive technologies, such as in Vitro Fertilisation and artificial insemination.