EUROPEAN CENTRE OF EXCELLENCE
HUGH WYNTER FERTILITY CENTRE
The Hugh Wynter Fertility Management Unit (HWFMU), formerly The Advanced Training and Research in Fertility Management Unit, Faculty of Medical Sciences, UWI, Mona was established in 1979 and renamed in 2008 in honour of its founder Professor the Honourable Hugh Wynter. The Unit is engaged in the provision of clinical, training, research and outreach services to undergraduate and postgraduate students as well as the wider community across the Caribbean. The HWFMU is unique as it is the only one of its kind in the UWI and the English –speaking Caribbean. The initial family planning services were significantly expanded to include In Vitro Fertilisation (IVF) in keeping with the international developments in health and population in the 1990s to the most comprehensive concept of sexual and reproductive health including sexual and reproductive rights and infertility.
The expansion of the physical and technological capacity of the Unit in 2012 has transformed into a world-class facility that can reach and engage audiences, students and colleagues in all facets of its work including Minimally Invasive Gynaecological surgery (MIGS). The Unit is poised to become a centre of excellence in sexual and reproductive health and MIGS that will impact the populations of the Caribbean and beyond by making services available with significant reductions in the recovery period and total cost. These modifications will enhance economic productivity by reducing time lost due to long recovery times as well as improving family life.
The HWFMU had collaborated with the International Society for Gynaecologic Endoscopy (ISGE) and the Caribbean Association of Gynaecologic Endoscopic Surgeons (CAGES) to host the 2017 MIGS conference and postgraduate courses in Jamaica. Obstetrician/gynaecologists, as well as others from the Caribbean and globally, attended the Congress. The conference offered a strategic opportunity to enhance the global image of the HWFMU within the University of the West Indies as a modern facility that is developing a comprehensive approach to sexual and reproductive health and MIGS.
