The AFFS is the abbreviation for the African Federation of Fertility Societies. The AFFS is a democratic non-profit NGO (non-governmental organization) representing the African continent, and members of the AFFS are the national fertility societies of each country in Africa. Membership of the AFFS is voluntary, and membership fees are paid annually by each national fertility society. There are elections every 3 years, as per the Constitution, to elect the executive and non-executive board members of AFFS.
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Prof. Gamal I. Serour, President- AFFS
The vision of the AFFS is to be a powerful and productive fertility organization specifically for the African continent. AFFS is aiming to harness the collective input of all Reproductive Medicine professionals on the continent and provide a unified voice to promote the mission and goals of the organization.
There are elections every 3 years, as per the Constitution, to elect the executive and non-executive board members of AFFS.
The aim of the AFFS is to improve the quality of Reproductive Medicine care for infertile couples in Africa and improve access to high quality ART services. We link medical professionals in the field of Reproductive Medicine on the African continent and use their expertise to improve the care of the patients needing fertility treatment. We are professionals in the field of Reproductive Medicine who are elected leaders from national fertility societies. This includes Reproductive Medicine physicians, urologist, Embryologists, Fertility Nurses / IVF coordinators and Mental Health Fertility Counsellors.
- Providing a strong voice improve care of fertility patients, and advocate for the rights of infertile patients
- To prevent tubal infertility by reducing the incidence of Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs) in Africa by educational awareness and promotion of early antibiotic treatment guidelines
- To ensure and offer training opportunities for Physicians and embryologists
- To provide a platform for the networking of professionals in the field of Reproductive Medicine and ART on the African Continent, by setting up task teams to deal with specific tasks
- To address specific problems relevant to the African continent in the field of Reproductive Medicine such as: poor or discriminatory fertility legislation on the continent, lack of government funding and infrastructure for fertility care and lack of society guidelines for professionals
- To fight against gender-based violence against women on the African continent including practices such as: targeted violence against infertile women by the community, negative stigma against infertile women, domestic partner violence against infertile women, and female genital mutilation in young girls
- To advertise educational events / conferences on the continent to encourage participation of all countries in fertility meetings.
- To share expertise and knowledge with colleagues
- To advise government representatives on best clinical practice, and to work together with legal teams to update existing national fertility legislation and draft new ethical legislation.
- To draft clinical and laboratory guidelines for professionals in the field of Reproductive Medicine.
- To link with other international fertility organizations such as IFFS, ASRM, ESHRE, FIGO, WHO and provide input from Africa to these organizations.
- To channel funding for the improvement of Reproductive Medicine services on the continent with good governance and in an ethical manner.
