Low cost, personalised attention and a success rate on a par with the developed world makes the city a favourite among foreigners.
CHENNAI: Hundreds of couples from abroad are visiting Chennai every year for fertility treatment giving a new thrust area to medical tourism. The latest technology, enhanced expertise, cheaper treatment and a success rate comparable with that of any developed country have put India in the preference list of medical tourists.
Fertility clinics in Chennai have treated more than a thousand couples from abroad - the US, the UK, Canada, the Gulf, the Far East and neighbouring countries - in the last couple of years and the numbers are growing.
Leading fertility specialist Dr Kamala Selvaraj of GG Hospital says personalised attention is a major contributing factor to the trend. In foreign countries, patients spend more time filling up forms. But here we meet the patients, do the tests, counsel them and treat them.”
Dr Selvaraj treated 244 patients from abroad in 2004 and that number has increased to 294 in 2005. As much as 25 per cent of the patient list of Dr Sarat Battina, infertility specialist at Apollo Hospital, comprises foreigners this year, an increase from 15 per cent last year. Dr Battina sees about 2,500 patients in a year.
Dr Battina underscores the cost advantage. “An in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) that costs $8000 to $10,000 (Rs3.5 lakh to Rs5 lakh) in the West costs only $2,500 (Rs1.2 lakh) in Chennai, which is cheaper than in Mumbai (Rs1.5 lakh).” Moreover, the success rate (40 to 70 per cent) is comparable to international standards.
In medial infrastructure, Indian cities match international standards. Micromanipulators are used for intra-cytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) in which doctors collect a single live sperm and inject it directly into the cytoplasm of the mother’s egg. FISH (Fluorescence In Situ Hybridisation) technique is used for genetic studies to aid genetic counselling.
Says Mrs Ram, an NRI in the US, who conceived after intra-uterine insemination (IUI) at Dr Selvaraj’s GG Hospital: “I waited for nine years, taking fertility drugs. In the US, one gets to consult the doctor only once in three months. Here, the doctor advised IUI which costs only Rs1,000. I got pregnant after the second trial.”
The treatment period varies from one to four months. “Once the patient becomes pregnant and the embryo shows signs of normal growth, she goes back to her home country and the delivery takes place there. We keep in touch with the patient through emails,” says Dr Battina.
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