‘Need for strong regulations to monitor IVF clinics in India’

According to an Ernst&Young Report released in July last year titled ‘Expanding IVF treatment in India’, as many as 15 per cent of married couples are affected by infertility. 

With respect to IVF, a highly expensive treatment procedure, which ranges between Rs 1,50,000 and 2,00,000 per cycle, there is a huge gap across cities where people can look for quality treatment. 

Dr Sesh Kamal Sunkara, who was in the city to address a symposium, says that apart from quality care determined by live births, equipment and qualified staff with well-defined roles, a regulatory body that supervises and periodically audits the performance of IVF clinics would improve delivery of IVF treatment. “The IVF market is commercial in India, but it has to be organised. 

These clinics are mushrooming in every nook and cranny. But do we have enough resources to handle them? Some of them make tall claims, guaranteeing a child for couples who opt for IVF treatment. We are faced with more failures than successes in the treatment and the success rate according to reports is 33 per cent in the first cycle,” she points out.

Dr Sunkara, a member of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (MRCOG), says that qualifications of each of the staff involved in the clinics functioning needs to be reviewed periodically. “In the UK, there are annual and surprise checks and the clinics and the specialists associated with it are reviewed. 

The performance of the clinic is ascertained on the basis of success or failure. Specialists have to update themselves with knowledge and skills. I have observed that some of these clinics are run by those without required training in the sub-speciality. It should be a patient-centered approach,” she adds. In India, IVF treatment drains emotions and finances, adds Dr Sunkara, asserting the need for fertility counsellors. 

“Infertility is a very personal problem and it can be extremely challenging for couples. Their psychological burden needs to be addressed,” she says.