SAMBALPUR: Veer Surendra Sai Institute of Medical Sciences and Research (VIMSAR), Burla, the premiere healthcare institution in Western Odisha, is planning to start an In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) Centre in the hospital. The centre will benefit people unable to afford high costs of the fertility treatment and assist with conception of a child.
Director of VIMSAR, Lalit Meher said, currently, the IVF facilities are only available at private clinics and hospitals. “While we have doctors with required expertise, we will use the existing infrastructure to start the facility at the hospital,” Meher said. However, he clarified that the centre would need a few equipment for which a proposal will be sent to the government. The director said the plan will be discussed at the executive body meeting, following which a proposal will be sent to the government to provide the equipment.
“We will require around ` 1 crore to set up the IVF centre here. If required, we will also send some doctors for training after we get the nod from the government,” Meher further stated.Explaining the objective of starting the IVF facilities at VIMSAR, Meher said the poor patients who cannot afford expensive treatment will get it at the hospital free of cost. “Though infertility is a common problem these days, the treatment is way too expensive. Once the facility starts at VIMSAR, the poor can avail the treatment free of cost,” he exhorted.
If VIMSAR proposal gets the nod, it will be the first government-run hospital to start IVF facility in the State. Dr Sanjeeb Mishra, a medical practitioner at the hospital said, given the multiple research studies showing infertility rising among men and women across all economic classes, the demand for an IVF facility at government hospitals is being raised since long. “If the IVF centre starts here, we will also be able to offer all common infertility treatment procedures for free,” Mishra added.