Five years after opening with ambitions to support fertility preservation and organ transplantation, Makerere University’s biobank has yet to expand beyond sperm storage because of funding constraints, its director says.
Prof. Moses Joloba, a molecular biologist who heads the facility at Makerere University Hospital, said the bank has secured funding to continue sperm banking but lacks the resources needed to establish egg storage services.
“We have funding to sustain sperm banking, but we have not been able to build the infrastructure required for egg banking,” Joloba said.
The biobank opened in 2021 as a pilot project with plans to expand alongside organ transplant services at Mulago National Referral Hospital. While Mulago launched transplant services in 2023, the biobank has made little progress toward offering broader fertility preservation services.
The delays come as infertility services remain scarce in Uganda despite growing demand.
A study published in the Springer Medical Journal in April 2026 estimated Uganda’s infertility prevalence at 6.4%. Researchers surveyed 115 hospitals across the country and found that only a small number offered advanced infertility services despite increasing demand.
Joloba said demand for sperm banking continues to rise, with growing interest in donor sperm. He said many of the bank’s clients are middle-class women seeking donor sperm from screened donors without pursuing romantic relationships.
As assisted reproductive technologies become more common, however, experts say Uganda still lacks sufficient research and policy guidance to address the ethical, legal and cultural issues they raise.
Prof. Erisa Mwaka, a bioethicist and lecturer in human anatomy at Makerere University, said much of the ethical guidance currently used in Uganda is based on research conducted elsewhere.
Mwaka, who has studied the ethical implications of biobanking and genomic data sharing, said Uganda needs locally generated evidence to guide policy and practice.
Joloba agreed, saying important questions remain unresolved, including how to manage multiple donations and the social and cultural implications of fertility preservation and donor conception.
“Many of these issues are still being studied, and we do not yet have all the answers,” he said.
He also encouraged Ugandans to consider preserving not only reproductive material but also their DNA, saying this could help resolve future family disputes and reduce the need to exhume bodies for genetic testing.
The biobank was established to preserve reproductive material for people whose fertility may be affected by cancer treatment, surgery or other medical conditions, while also supporting research and future reproductive care. Expanding its services to include egg storage would allow more women to preserve their fertility, but that goal remains out of reach without additional investment.
