Nigeria: Experience with Quality Management and IVF in a Developing Country

Abstract

The developing world has also been part of the explosion in IVF technology. The absence of regulation, poor infrastructure, lower level of education, lower experience with IVF technology, higher social consequences of infertility leading to high demand for services and an economically driven generally more utilitarian perspective to very difficult ethical issues suggests that quality management systems must be important for clinics operating in developing countries. The Bridge Clinic was certified according to the ISO 9001:2000 standards in 2004 ahead of most clinics in the UK. The purpose of this chapter is to outline our experience with quality management in a developing country. This chapter describes quality and quality management and our experience with the implementation of quality management across the following operational areas of the organization, governance, human resources, information systems and information technology, and environmental, clinical and laboratory services. This chapter will conclude with our overall impression of the quality management system in a developing country.