India Pharma Outlook Team | Wednesday, 26 October 2022
Indira IVF, which has a strong presence in the western and northern regions of the country accounting for close to 70% of its total centres, is planning to aggressively expand into the eastern and southern markets in the country. "To this end, around 17 centres have been added in the locations thus far, and 25 more are slated to be inaugurated in FY22-23. The organisation is currently looking for acquisitions in Tamil Nadu and Kerala to leverage and further augment the quality of renowned infertility treatment hospitals in the region.
The company is also planning to expand internationally to the neighbouring countries of Nepal and Bangladesh, subsequently also foraying into other Southeast Asian countries in the near future”, Dr Nitiz Murdia – co-founder & managing director, Indira IVF, said. Indira IVF is spread over 100+ centres, 50% of its hospitals are present in tier II and III locations. These locations identified by Indira IVF lack awareness, have no access to a fertility clinic, or are plagued with misinformation about infertility. The organisation follows a hub-and-spoke model wherein a full-service hub is present in a major town or in an accessible locality of the city and supported by spoke centres that are equipped to complete 70-75% of the procedure. Speaking about investments, he said, "Expanding into the South market, Indira IVF is looking at an investment Rs 100-200 crore".
"Access to assisted reproductive technology (ART) for couples that require infertility treatment and for individuals who plan to preserve their fertility by means of egg and sperm freezing is extremely limited in India. These populations are also unaware about ART, its scope, and applications. This is especially true for a greater proportion of rural India where neither government nor private hospitals have a presence. Indira IVF’s seeks to invest into these untapped markets to provide access to affordable treatment. Moreover, the organisation would like to extend its services in regions that are more accepting to ART by providing services markedly differentiated by its technology-first approach" he further said.
The World Health Organisation has identified infertility as a disease, treatment to which has been found to be lacking equitable access, especially in countries in the low- and middle-income groups. “In India, although maternal health and wellbeing have been an area of focus, infertility treatment has not been prioritised in national health initiatives. With a burden of 10-15% of its population, our country needs major strategic reforms in to address the parental aspirations of millions of infertile couples in India,” Dr Murdia added. Dr Murdia further stated, “The top of the funnel challenge in India regarding infertility is awareness of the extent of the disease and existing medically-backed treatment for the same.
National health initiatives that focus on infertility treatment and communicate on the disease, the importance of early symptom detection, the necessity of treatment from trained doctors, and the benefits of treatment must be incorporated”. A number of private infertility hospital chains that utilise state-of-the-art technology delivering high success rates have been established across the country, providing treatment options to a great expanse of the populace.
This provides the scope to explore public-private partnership (PPP) opportunities with government hospitals to add infertility treatments to their catalogue by setting up the technology and bringing in trained doctors into the fold. This infrastructure will have two-fold benefits: (a) seep into the nooks of the country, providing accessible quality treatment in rural as well as urban areas, and (b) bolster the national health initiatives of the government, backed by the provisions of the Assisted Reproductive Technology (Regulation) Act, 2021. “Infertility treatment is considered an elective procedure in India. This has trickled down to the non-inclusion of the same in health insurance.
Support from the government is required to facilitate insurance coverage such that couples receive aid for up to three IVF cycles. Government’s intervention on the matter will irrevocably help reduce the financial burden faced by couples throughout the country, which is also a reason for couples not opting for treatment to begin with. A number of corporates have taken cognizance regarding the importance of infertility treatment and have begun to include it as an additional health benefit,” he concluded.