Gandhi Hospital flooded with queries regarding free fertility services

HYDERABAD: After it was announced that an Infertility Treatment Centre would be started at State government-run Gandhi Hospital, queries from people who are willing to opt for the services have been flooding the hospital.

The reason is believed to be the huge costs involved in such treatment at private hospitals or clinics. Gandhi Hospital staff members have been receiving two to three requests a day since the second week of November when the centre was announced.

For instance, Intra Uterine Insemination—one of the treatment methods to help one conceive—costs `1 to `3 lakh in private clinics. However, people have to wait for at least two months to avail the free services at the hospital.

In November second week, officials said that fertility centre would be started at Gandhi hospital to help people who have been facing issues and who cannot afford treatment at private clinics. This is first of its kind initiative in government hospitals. Though officials had said that it would be started in December, the project will take some more time.

“It would take around two to three months for the centre to fuction. We have sent the list of equipment required to Telangana State Medical Services and Infrastructure Development Corporation (TSMIDC). It will take time to buy the equipment,” said Dr K Ramesh Reddy, Telangana’s director of medical education (DME), who added that the agenda behind starting the centre is to curb exploitation by private clinics and help those who cannot afford the treatment.

“After the announcement, we have been receiving at least three to four enquiries a day from people who want to know the date from which infertility treatment centre will start,” sources in the hospital said.
Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) treatment is opted by people who suffer from infertility but want to have children. The government’s plan was to provide ART treatment at Gandhi Hospital.
The economically backward section finds it hard to undergo such a treatment at private hospitals as it is expensive.

While people readily recognise In Vitro Fertilisation (IVF), also known as test tube baby technique, and surrogacy as ART techniques, there are other types of ART techniques such as Intrauterine Insemination (IUI) (where a sperm is taken out and placed in uterus). However, doctors at Gandhi hospital earlier said that surrogacy services would not be offered initially.