Health min announces free infertility treatment for Goans at GMC

Panaji: The state government will soon provide Goans with free intra-uterine insemination (IUI) and in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) facilities at the Goa Medical College and Hospital, Bambolim, health minister Vishwajit Rane said on Tuesday. The move is aimed at tackling infertility problems among Goan women — which is presently as high as 20% — and saving individual expenditures of up to Rs 9 lakh, he added.

While the IUI unit is expected to be operational in 30 days, the IVF facility will be complete within 4-6 months, he added.

Both will be set up with assistance from the Federation of Obstetric and Gynaecological Societies of India (FOGSI).

Rane told reporters that infertility treatment will first be offered at the GMC and subsequently extended to the district hospitals in Mapusa and Margao. “Several Goan women travel outside the state for treatment and spend anywhere between Rs 5 lakh to Rs 9 lakh. Sometimes, the outcome is not as expected,” he said.

The minister said that during his recent meeting with IVF specialist Dr Nandita Palshetkar in Kolhapur, he was assured that both, IUI and IVF treatments at the GMC, would be provided free of cost. Palshetkar, who is set to take over as president of FOGSI in 2019, also assured Rane that the federation would handhold and support the state’s premier healthcare institute till both the facilities were up and running. “I don’t think there is a better body than this to help us,” he said.

Rane further disclosed that the state government was in the process of building a mother and child block at the GMC. “It is a two-pronged strategy as I am minister of both health, and women and child development. We seek to provide women with all they need within the state so that they don’t lose money and go outside for treatment,” he said.

FOGSI is also expected to partner with the Goa government for the ‘We for Stree Abhiyan’ next year. The mission aims at meeting 10 priorities crucial to the betterment of women’s health in India.