Infertility Treatment Needs To Have All-encompassing Approach: Avanti Birla
Is infertility becoming more common?
India is home to 27.5 million infertile couples and the condition is growing and affects both men and women. Approximately 10-15 per cent of the relevant age group suffer from fertility issues. Increasing rates are often due to lifestyle changes resulting in stress and obesity, a lack of physical exercise, changes in eating habits, pollution and accompanied medical disorders like diabetes.
What prompted the CK Birla Group to venture into fertility?
Birla Fertility & IVF strengthens the groups long commitment of providing quality healthcare (we run hospitals across India) by supporting every couple in their journey with clinical excellence and compassion. In India, less than 1 per cent seek medical evaluation for their infertile condition, due to a lack of awareness, access and affordability.
To fulfil the vast unmet demand for fertility treatments we will set up over 100 comprehensive clinics in the next five years. In order to do this we have invested in the best clinical technologies and expertise, as well as people.
For me it’s been a personal passion with the setting up of our two most recent hospitals from where this fertility venture comes from. As a young woman I understand the need for a trusting and expert healthcare provider and we wanted to create just that when it came to fertility as well.
What makes 'fertility treatment' different from other medical decisions?
With increasing awareness, more and more people are coming forward now to explore IVF and fertility treatments. Fertility is an emotional journey for a couple and it is important to understand patients and support and respect their decision. There is a need to integrate advanced research, evidence-based practices and state-of-art technology with clinical expertise to provide wide-ranging solutions to every patient. Treatment also needs to have an all-encompassing approach focussing on improving the fertility health of couples by providing multi-disciplinary care under one roof where Nutritionists, Counsellors, Endocrinologists and Andrologists work seamlessly alongside Fertility experts.
Please throw some light on the current laws and regulations on infertility in India and how can these help patients to seek ethical and quality treatment?
The field of assisted reproductive technology (ART), covering the entire range of fertility treatments, is rapidly growing. The recent ART Bill also aims at defining a set of regulations in the field of IVF and Fertility treatments in India. It focusses on bringing a more defined structure and standardisation of clinical treatments to improve safety. The legislation will also empower patients by making more information available for them to make choices about their treatment with full knowledge and understanding.
What are your long-term plans for making fertility care accessible?
Birla Fertility and IVF plans to expand its national and international footprint with over 100 clinics in the next 5 years, with an investment of over Rs 500 crore. We are present across, Gurugram, Lucknow, Kolkata and Delhi. We are accessible and approachable and give our patients adequate time to devise the best and most customised form of treatment for them. Our pricing philosophy is to make treatment affordable and we ensure transparency in our pricing, with no hidden charges. We have several packages that are attractively priced, thereby enhancing accessibility for a wide section of society. As part of our commitment to expanding awareness on infertility, we are offering OPD consultations to patients without any charges.
We aim to be a global leader in fertility care with a vision to transform the future of fertility through outstanding clinical outcomes, research and innovation.
There are so many established players in this segment already. What sets you apart from the rest?
We have a rich legacy of over 50 years of delivering high-quality healthcare- Birla Fertility and IVF is a step to empower couples in making the right reproductive choice and be their trusted advisors.
Our promise to patients is that of Clinical Reliability, Price Promise and our Empathetic and Trustworthy approach. We work in partnership with couples so they are decision makers in their own fertility management, covering all aspects: fertility preservation services, male infertility treatments, advanced genetic screening facilities including those for physical and mental well being. A highly experienced team at Birla Fertility and IVF, with over 21k cycles, has trained in state of the art IVF labs. We have further built on these capabilities: in terms of clinical and non clinical trainings.
