MillenniumPost
Bengal

IVF clinic to come up at IPGMER-SSKM Hospital

kolkata: People in Bengal will now be able to avail costly in-vitro-fertilization (IVF) treatment completely free-of-cost as the IPGMER-SSKM Hospital is all set to come up with eastern India's first free IVF clinic.

The proposed clinic will be made operational within six months, said IPGMER-SSKM director Dr Manimoy Bandyopadhyay.

It is the brainchild of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee who wanted to ensure that childless couples belonging to the lower middle class background can avail free IVF treatment.

The IVF centre will be set up at the OPD department of the hospital and the centre will eventually be a home for advanced medical research.

"The IVF treatment will be completely free at the hospital. We have tied up with a private infertility clinic which will share expertise and train our doctors. It will take around 6 months to roll out full-fledged treatment at the hospital. People will get costly IVF treatment completely free-of-cost. This is for the first time, a state-run hospital has come up with such an initiative," Dr Bandyopadhyay added.

It may be mentioned here that no government hospital in the Eastern India has ever come up with such an idea as there are financial issues involved.

All India Institute of Medical Sciences provides subsidised treatment. The SSKM is the first hospital to provide IVF treatment to patients till the baby is born. IVF is a process of fertilisation by artificially mixing an ovum and a sperm in the laboratory and then the embryo is shifted to the uterus.

It may be mentioned here that the hospital authorities have tied with Ghosh Dastidar Institute of Fertility Research (GDIFR) which will train the doctors, share expertise as a knowledge partner.

Training will be given to nurses and medical professionals so that this centre can function independently within 3 years. State government will provide around Rs 2.35 crore to GDIFR for next 3 years.

"The cost of a single cycle IVF varies from Rs 2 lakh to Rs 4 lakh at various private clinics. Most of the people cannot avail treatment from the private clinics mainly because of its cost. People will be hugely benefited once the services are made available here at SSKM," Dr Bandyopadhyay said.

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