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Children and women welfare activist Veronica Mary says that the lack of artificial insemination treatment centers in Tamil Nadu government hospitals, which provide medical treatment for many difficult diseases, is affecting the poor.
In 2018, this person from Madurai filed a case in the Madurai branch of the High Court asking that artificial insemination treatments should be introduced in government hospitals.
He then raised some questions about it under the Right to Information Act.
RTI information
How many private companies have been approved to set up artificial insemination centers? How many government hospitals have been approved? had asked.
Thereby, “a total of 155 private fertilization centers are functioning in 26 districts across Tamil Nadu, 59 in Chennai, 14 in Coimbatore and 11 in Madurai. But even though more than 30 Government Medical College Hospitals and more than 40 District Head Hospitals are functioning in Tamil Nadu, even in one of the Government Hospitals, it was revealed that the facility of Fertility Center has not been established,” says Veronica Mary.
Veronica Mary questions why even big hospitals like Madurai Rajaji Government Hospital and Chennai Rajiv Gandhi Government Hospital have not introduced this treatment yet?
Earlier, when this case was heard, the government lawyers said that they are bringing artificial insemination treatment facilities in the districts of Chennai, Madurai, Coimbatore and Trichy. But it was not implemented. After that we made appeals, he says.
“We are making arrangements to introduce artificial insemination treatments every time a case comes up. The government will say that there are not enough funds at present. Surrogacy has recently sparked a lot of debate. Such problems will not arise if the facility can be obtained from the government. It would also be a viable treatment for poor people who don’t have a lot of money,” says Veronica Marie.
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Is it possible in government hospitals?
Speaking in the Assembly while announcing the budget this year, the Health Minister said that fertility centers will be set up at the Obstetrics and Gynecology Center in Egmore and Rajaji Government Hospital in Madurai at a cost of five crore rupees.
But the problem of fertility is a problem that is increasing day by day, and if the treatment is more expensive, artificial insemination centers should be set up in government hospitals without delay like in the past, says Veronica Mary.
“IVF is artificial insemination treatment. Some government hospitals provide some treatments for infertility in the outpatient department but this IVF is the last stage of those treatments,” says obstetrician Umaiyal.
“As far as government hospitals are concerned, IVF treatment is at AIIMS in Delhi. It needs more people. Also this treatment should be done very precisely. Otherwise the correct results will not be obtained. A good IVF treatment would cost at least Rs 2 lakh,” explains Dr Umaiyal.
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According to the National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5) the fertility rate has decreased from 2.2 to 2.0. Although it has to be approached from various angles like the mentality of having one or two children is enough, the family planning measures taken by the government, the general opinion of experts is that the current lifestyle greatly affects the nature of fertility.
What was the minister’s response?
Although the Tamil Nadu government announced that artificial insemination centers will be set up, Veronica says that she is thinking of appealing the case to speed up their implementation.
What is the status of the announcement that artificial insemination treatment centers will be established in government hospitals? When asked Subramaniam, he said that artificial insemination centers will be set up in Chennai and Trichy.
He further said, “Government hospitals will have better systems than the ones in private hospitals. People spend more for this in private centers. Therefore, artificial insemination centers will first be established in two places in the state as a model measure and then in future as many as possible will be established in the district headquarters,” he said.
Where else in India?
For India, the artificial insemination center has been operating for more than 10 years at the AIIMS hospital located in the capital city of Delhi.
Different stages of infertility treatments are also offered there.
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