Mumbai: In a bid to make infertility treatment accessible to a larger section of the childless couples, the public trust Nowrosjee Wadia Maternity Hospital has opened a in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) centre in Mumbai that could dramatically bring down the cost of infertility treatment.

The “Wadia Assisted Reproduction Technology Centre” recently inaugurated by Maharashtra Health Minister Deepak Sawant is the first such public trust hospital in Maharashtra, an official statement said.

“It is disheartening to see that nearly 20 percent of married couples in India are afflicted with the problem of infertility and require medical assistance for a successful childbearing. The magnitude of the problem is therefore quite large,” health minister Sawant said on the occasion.

“Moreover, infertility is prevalent in all classes of society and affects both – the rich as well as the economically challenged with equal frequency. We applaud this noble initiative undertaken by the hospital and trust that this will prove as a boon to the poor strata of childless parents,” Sawant noted.

The treatment costs of various assisted reproduction techniques is very high and many times out of reach of a common man.

The high cost generally stems from costly medications, costly investigation procedures, high equipment costs and their maintenance.

“We felt a pressing need to start a highly economical project in the field of assisted reproduction that will serve the need for such a treatment at a much subsidised rates, making it affordable to common people,” Minnie Bodhanwala, CEO of Wadia Hospitals, said.

“Our aim is to make these costly treatments available or accessible to the bottom of our society pyramid,” Bodhanwala said.

Laid out on a floor area of about 3,000 sq. feet, the centre has a central air handling unit for IVF operating theatre and laboratory area.

“However, while making the ART treatments affordable to common people, we have not compromised with the quality aspect of the treatment,” Bodhanwala pointed out.