The Hindu: Madurai: Monday, 07 November 2022.
Though various aspects of healthcare are provided by government hospitals in Tamil Nadu, they still do not have fertility centres thus leaving an increasing chunk of the population diagnosed with infertility to depend on private hospitals.
The replies obtained through Right to the Information Act by a public health and RTI activist A. Veronica Mary, revealed that among the 155 fertility centres functioning in 26 districts across the State as of April 22, 2021 not a single government hospital has a fertility clinic.
Ms Mary said that there are 59 private fertility centres in Chennai, followed by 14 in Coimbatore, 11 in Madurai and 10 in Salem which are approved by the Directorate of Medical and Rural Health Services.
“It is very remiss of the State to not equip even one of the over 30 Government Medical College Hospitals and over 40 Government District Headquarters Hospitals in the State to provide the facility which clearly needs attention in the present social milieu,” she said and noted that government hospitals in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Kerala had opened fertility centres a few years ago itself.
The pressing need
According to the fifth edition of the National Family Health Survey, the Total Fertility Rate (TFR) an average number of children per woman has declined from 2.2 to 2.0 at the national level. Only five Indian States have the replacement level of fertility above 2.1 anything less than two suggests an eventual decline in population over time.
In order to cater to childless couples, the activist demanded the Tamil Nadu’s Health Department to equip government hospitals with infertility care such as in vitro fertilisation (IVF) coupled with preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD), intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI), morphologically selected sperm injection (IMSI), Laser Assisted Hatching (LAH), laparoscopic surgery to treat infertility, time lapse IVF incubator, fibroid clinics and egg, embryo and sperm banks.
She called for equipping major government medical college hospitals in the State including Chennai, Coimbatore, Madurai, Karur, Dharmapuri, Salem, Theni among others with fertility clinics.
When contacted, Government Rajaji Hospital Dean A. Rathinavel said that as per the recent announcement by Health Minister Ma. Subramanian fertility clinics will be established at GRH and at the Institute of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Egmore soon at a total cost of ₹5 crore. He affirmed the rising need for infertility care and said that it would be a boon to people from rural pockets and down south.
Though various aspects of healthcare are provided by government hospitals in Tamil Nadu, they still do not have fertility centres thus leaving an increasing chunk of the population diagnosed with infertility to depend on private hospitals.
The replies obtained through Right to the Information Act by a public health and RTI activist A. Veronica Mary, revealed that among the 155 fertility centres functioning in 26 districts across the State as of April 22, 2021 not a single government hospital has a fertility clinic.
Ms Mary said that there are 59 private fertility centres in Chennai, followed by 14 in Coimbatore, 11 in Madurai and 10 in Salem which are approved by the Directorate of Medical and Rural Health Services.
“It is very remiss of the State to not equip even one of the over 30 Government Medical College Hospitals and over 40 Government District Headquarters Hospitals in the State to provide the facility which clearly needs attention in the present social milieu,” she said and noted that government hospitals in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Kerala had opened fertility centres a few years ago itself.
The pressing need
According to the fifth edition of the National Family Health Survey, the Total Fertility Rate (TFR) an average number of children per woman has declined from 2.2 to 2.0 at the national level. Only five Indian States have the replacement level of fertility above 2.1 anything less than two suggests an eventual decline in population over time.
In order to cater to childless couples, the activist demanded the Tamil Nadu’s Health Department to equip government hospitals with infertility care such as in vitro fertilisation (IVF) coupled with preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD), intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI), morphologically selected sperm injection (IMSI), Laser Assisted Hatching (LAH), laparoscopic surgery to treat infertility, time lapse IVF incubator, fibroid clinics and egg, embryo and sperm banks.
She called for equipping major government medical college hospitals in the State including Chennai, Coimbatore, Madurai, Karur, Dharmapuri, Salem, Theni among others with fertility clinics.
When contacted, Government Rajaji Hospital Dean A. Rathinavel said that as per the recent announcement by Health Minister Ma. Subramanian fertility clinics will be established at GRH and at the Institute of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Egmore soon at a total cost of ₹5 crore. He affirmed the rising need for infertility care and said that it would be a boon to people from rural pockets and down south.
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