Azerbaijani gov't to promote infertility treatment
By Nigar Orujova
Artificial insemination and fetus transplantation for infertility afflicted and families in need of special social care will be carried out free of charge in state-run medical institutions, the parliament's social policy committee member, Malahat Ibrahimgizi, said last week.
According to the World Health Organization, there are two types of infertility, which is the inability to conceive a child. Primary infertility occurs in a couple who have never had a child, while secondary infertility is failure to conceive following a previous pregnancy.
Infertility, whether primary or secondary, is defined as one year of attempting to become pregnant without success.
Infertility affects men and women equally and may be caused by infection, but often there is no obvious underlying cause.
The issue is reflected in the "Reproductive health" bill, Ibrahimgizi said.
"This bill will provide the family which is affected by infertility for more than ten years with one free surgery," Ibrahimgizi added.
Another MP, Ganira Pashayeva, suggested omitting the "lower-income bracket families" phrase in the legislation.
"If the family could not afford an operation for ten years, there is no use to re-examine their financial standing under the 'lower-income brackets' criterion," Pashayeva says.
Infertility for ten years or more leads to a break-up of the family in most cases, therefore, this is a crucial issue in the domestic legislation, Pashayeva stressed.
One of the clauses of the reproductive health legislation, which is to be discussed at the parliament's plenary session, stipulates that each adult woman has the right to artificial insemination and fetus transplantation.
According to this clause, extra corporal fertilization and embryo transplantation should be carried out by an experienced doctor in relevant state medical institutions, private and local medical institutions licensed to provide medical services on reproductive health and family planning protection.
At the same time, the bill is to forbid human embryo usage for commercial, military and industrial purposes.
Statistics shows that 25 percent of young Azerbaijani families suffer from infertility. The rise of the divorce rate may be indicative, therefore, the problem should attract more attention.
According to MP Hadi Rajably, chairman of the parliamentary committee on social policy, the bill on reproductive health will be discussed this week.
300,000 to 400,000 manats ($382,000 - $510,000) a year are needed to enforce such legislation, and this amount should be envisioned in the 2013 state budget, Rajably said.
He added that the clause on surrogacy -- an arrangement in which a woman carries and delivers a child for another couple or person -- was excluded from the legislation after drawing furious reactions from some lawmakers.