‘Infertility treatment must get insurance cover’

Gynaecologist Dr Sunita Tandulwadkar is now chairperson of the Federation of Obstetrics and Gynaecological Society of India (FOGSI). FOGSI, which is over five decades old, is the professional organisation representing practitioners of obstetrics and gynaecology in India. It has a strength of 209 member societies and over 25,000 individual members across the country. Dr Tandulwadkar, also director of the infertility and endoscopy centre at Ruby Hall Clinic, tells DNA about the activities she has planned as FOGSI chairman and how she intends to develop the Intra Vitro Fertilisation (IVF) technique in the country.

Tell us something about the infertility issue. Is the rate of infertility going up?
The rate of infertility has gone up in the last three years. It was 10% to 12% earlier, but now it has steadily increased to about 15%. The reasons for infertility among couples are lifestyle changes, competition, alcohol, smoking, junk food, genetic causes and so on. In some cases, it is the male factor, other times due to the woman factor and sometimes, due to both of them. However, there are cases in which the cause of infertility remains unknown. Research and studies are on worldwide about such cases.

As FOGSI chairperson, what are your aims and plans?
We plan to conduct awareness workshops and educate gynaecologists and infertility experts about the various developments in the field of infertility. Development of guidelines in basic treatment and protocol to improve the standard of infertility practice in the country is also in the pipeline. We are planning to redesign training courses for gynaecologists that are run under FOGSI. We have chalked out research projects with the help of a few excellent assisted reproductive treatment (ART) centres in the country.

You spoke about guidelines and standards. Can you be more precise?
In 2008, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) had made an ART bill, which consists of all necessary guidelines for running an IVF clinic in a standard manner. This bill is still pending and has not yet passed in parliament. There are no laws for IVF in our country. Anyone opens an IVF clinic and provides unsuccessful lines of treatment. This should not happen. The bill makes it compulsory to have an IVF laboratory, embryologists, semen collection, surrogacy, egg donors and so on. The bill will help in standardisation of IVF clinics in India, helping them improve their quality and line of treatment. We have formed a committee of advisors to fight for making this bill a reality. The committee will also support me in making FOGSI plans successful.

Does your organisation have any plans for rural India?
There are many people in rural areas who cannot afford IVF. So, we plan to take IVF to them. For this, awareness workshops, conferences and camps for needy couples of society will be conducted. We have to understand that whether rich or poor, everyone wishes to have a baby. Infertility investigations and treatments are expensive and unfortunately, not covered by any insurance companies. It is important for insurance companies to cover infertility treatment.