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Bhubaneswar, May 27: Unregulated Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) clinics have started flourishing in the state, with many of them charging exorbitantly to treat infertile couples.
This is against the notice issued in 2012 by the ministry of home affairs to get themselves registered with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and also goes against the Union health ministry’s National Guidelines 2005 for Accreditation, Supervision & Regulation of ART Clinics in India which talks about a national registration of human reproductions through ART.
An RTI reveals that merely two ART clinics out of the six in the state have till now registered with the central body. These are the Swarnajayanti Infertility Clinic in Chandrashekharpur and Centre of Human Reproduction, IMS and Sum Hospital, Kalinga Vihar, all in Bhubaneswar.
Infertility experts of the city said that the unregulated and unprofessional ART clinics are flourishing in the state because of the lack of stringent laws and legislation. The unregistered clinics often exploit technology to make a quick buck. They sometimes indulge in unethical practices such as using gamets from outside without the consent of the parties concerned.
“The lack of a strong law is giving many unscrupulous elements from the medical fraternity an opportunity to exploit the technology to make it a business,” said Dr Veena Panda, an infertility expert of the city.
“The proposed ART (Regulation) Bill makes it mandatory for all ART clinics to register with the ICMR National Registry but the bill has not yet been passed by the Parliament,” senior deputy director general, ICMR, Dr R S Sharma said.
IVF clinics seldom register with ICMR because there are hardly laws made that can nail the offenders. Defaulters say the MHAs 2012 notification says it is ‘necessary’ and not mandatory, thus not binding to them. Moreover, no agency has been entrusted with the task of taking legal action against offenders.
An IVF expert said on condition of anonymity, “Giving data related to ART births to ICMR is crucial for maintaining a national database on the success and failure of the technique. A central data repository can give a picture about the effectiveness of the technique in the local population and further research can help in strengthening it.”
Two months ago, a group of nine infertile couples moved the State Commission of Women for registering their complaint relating to cheating by city-based Srusti Test Tube Baby Centre.
One of the complainants, Swapnil Patel (name changed) said, “I went to Srusti Test Tube Clinic where the doctors forced to go for IVF, which is costly. Moreover, they assured me that there is 100 per cent success rate through IVF. I went through this twice and spent around Rs 7 lakh but to no avail,” she said.
None of the unregistered ART clinics in the state responded to calls, SMSs or emails.
Experts said the only solution to the menace is the ART (Regulation) Bill 2010 which talks about mandatory registration, legal action against violators, formation of a grievance redressal body, as well as national and state monitoring bodies. The bill has been sent for wider consultation with experts after which it will be introduced in the Parliament.
What is Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART)?
Assisted Reproductive Technology refers to the medical interventions used to produce offspring in infertile couples. It varies from simple Intra-uterine Insemination (IUI) to complex methods such as In-vitro-Fertilization (IVF) commonly called the test tube baby technique. Other techniques involve Intra Cytoplasmic Sperm Injection and Gamate Intro-Fallopian Transfer (GIFT). Often the term IVF (test tube baby) is used interchangeably with ART.