No med college in TN treats infertility

No med college in TN treats infertility

Padmini.Sivarajah@timesgroup.com

Madurai:19.04.2021

The skylines of many cities in the state are dotted with advertisements of private infertility treatment centres, a multicrore industry which fleeces childless couples, but the government seems to be in no hurry to establish the facility in any of its 30 medical college hospitals. It had initiated discussions in this regard in 2016, and in 2019 even announced plans to set up infertility treatment facilities in Madurai, Coimbatore and Kilpauk medical college hospitals.

However, according to a reply received by women’s health expert and activist A Veronica Mary to an RTI petition, none of the government hospitals has infertility treatment facilities at present. In 2018, she had filed a petition before the Madurai bench of the high court seeking to establish such centres in government hospitals for the benefit of the poor. It was to know the status of the action taken that she filed the RTI petition.

The government had set up the ₹50 crore CEmONC - Comprehensive Emergency Obstetric and Newborn care Services Centre at Government Rajaji Hospital in Madurai a few years ago with facilities for high-end treatment for gynaecology and obstetrics. However, if facilities like PGD-IVF, intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI), morphologically selected sperm injection (IMSI), laser hatching, PGD sperm bank, egg bank, embryo bank, time lapse, fibroid clinic and laparoscopic surgery are established here, it would help thousands of couples from the economically poorer sections.

Even for middle class and upper middle class people, infertility treatment at private centres is way beyond their means. K Shanmugavalli (name changed), 29, had spent ₹5 lakh on treatment in Madurai for two years, but failed. ``I then contacted a centre in Chennai and am now pregnant but it cost me ₹9 lakh,’’ she said.

Veronica says the infertility treatment industry is worth ₹1,830 crore now which is expected to go up to ₹5,000 crore by 2023. ``AIIMs in New Delhi started infertility treatment way back in 2007, and Karnataka and Kerala in government hospitals in 2019, I do not know why Tamil Nadu has not done it,’’ she said. Sources at Government Rajaji Hospital said the facility would have started in Madurai but for the Covid crisis. Now they say they do not know when it will be established.

Even for middle class and upper middle class people, infertility treatment at private centres is way beyond their means