KOLKATA: People in Bengal will now be able to avail costly in-vitro-fertilization (IVF) treatment consultations at the outpatient department (OPD) of IPGMER-SSKM from the next week completely at free-of-costs.
This is eastern India's first free IVF clinic opened by a government hospital. IPGMER-SSKM director Dr Manimoy Bandyopadhyay in November last year announced that the IVF treatment will be started within six months.
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 services will be available at the 'Centre of Excellence of Reproductive Medicine' (CERM) in SSKM. The OPD services will run for two days a week.
People will get costly treatment from the hospital. The CERM will eventually be a home for advanced medical research, sources in the SSKM said.
SSKM Hospital authorities have tied up with a private infertility clinic, Ghosh Dastidar Institute of Fertility Research (GDIFR) which will share expertise and train our doctors.
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.
GDIFR will also 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 over Rs 2.35 crore to GDIFR for next 3 years.