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Tuesday 23 September 2014

IVF pioneers to push for ART Bill with govt to safeguard services to patients

Concerned by absence of any regulatory mechanism to control the unethical means in which IVF treatment is meted throughout the country, Bourn Hall, pioneers in IVF treatment across the world, is soon planning to meet the health ministry and ICMR to push this matter. Their main agenda will be to highlight the ground realities of the way in which infertility treatment is conducted, while stressing upon urgent need to hasten the process of regulating this thriving but highly unorganised sector.

As on date, India does not have any law to monitor and modulate the huge un organised industry that caters to the problem of infertility, in spite of the fact that it is one of the most highly prevalent medical problems affecting people. All that is there is the Assisted Reproductive Technology Bill (ART Bill), drafted by the union health ministry to regulate and counter thousands of infertility clinics that have mushroomed in the country over the years.

However experts feel that delay in passing the Bill in the parliament, is leading to mockery of the effort as the whole point of establishing this guidelines seems to be moot as wrong doers are still flouting the rules, risking the health and life of the patients at large. Dr Mike Macnamee chief executive officer, Bourn Hall Clinic, UK stressed that considering the magnitude of the infertility problem that is rising it is high time for the government to expedite the matter at the earliest so as to ensure that life of the patients are not put at risks.

Dr Mike stressed, “We need a strong framework to ensure that IVR industry grows in an organised manner, with focus on core competency, because we are dealing people's life here. As of now we have observed that there is no governance in India with respect to IVF treatment, people are being experimented on for profit, the quality of services here is also very poor. Thus we strongly feel that to upgrade as well as to standardise the industry, the government should accelerate the process of passing the Bill.”

The bill, once it gets the Parliament nod, will provide for a national framework for the regulation and supervision of assisted reproductive technology or infertility clinics and matters connected therewith or incidental thereto. Apart from putting strict parameters for the establishment of an infertility clinic, the Bill also defines the minimum requirement regarding staff in an infertility clinic and minimal physical requirements for a clinic.

Dr Mike informed that infertility treatment involves a lot of steps which include psycho social counselling, age factor, etc which are hardly considered while giving treatment facilities in other fertility clinics. He insisted that the only way to control and regulate unwarranted growth of infertility clinics in the country is by fast tracking the ART bill.

UK based Bourn Hall Clinic was founded in 1980 by IVF pioneers Patrick Steptoe and Professor Robert Edwards, who were responsible for the conception of Louise Brown, the world's first IVF or test-tube baby in 1978. They have opened two clinics in India situated in Delhi and Cochin that caters to patents from across the world. The Clinic is not only registered with the National Registry for ART Clinics in India which was launched by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) but also follows the highest EU standards.

Source:Pharmabiz

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