More IVF clinics planned in Gulf to meet rising demand

Government and private hospitals in the Gulf are expected to open more IVF centres this year, to cope with soaring demand for the treatment among infertile couples, experts have said.Healthcare operators and government agencies are thought to be expanding their existing offerings or opening new centres, to deal with increasing infertility rates in the region, healthcare analysts have said.“The Middle East is host to a booming and high-tech Assisted Reproductive Technique (ART) industry,” said Sandeep Sinha, the deputy director of healthcare for the Middle East at consultancy Frost and Sullivan. “Governments of Middle Eastern countries are opening up IVF facilities in their existing set up hospitals and few are coming up with collaboration with private facilities.” Clinics expected to open this year include a new IVF centre at Tawam Hospital in Al Ain, which has already assisted in the births of 1,000 babies since 1990, and Lifeline Hospital Group’s new Burjeel Hospital in Dubai, set to offer pre-implantation genetic diagnosis. Healthcare equity fund TVM Capital MENA and IVF clinics operator Bourn Hall International have also announced plans to invest $20m in reproductive centres across the region, with the first Bourn Hall clinic planned for Dubai by the end of 2011. Experts say the increase in private sector facilities has been sparked by the UAE’s recent decision to allow private healthcare companies to obtain licenses to practice. In February this year, Emirates Hospital in Dubai became the first, private clinic in the emirate to offer the treatment. Infertility is thought to be a growing concern in the Middle East thanks to a surge in lifestyle diseases such as obesity and diabetes, interfamily relations and late marriages. According to a report by the World Health Organisation in 2010, fertility rates in all six Gulf countries dropped significantly between 1990 and 2008.In the UAE particularly, a UN report last year said the Arab state had one of the fastest declining birth rates in the world, falling from 5.7 children per woman to less than two in the last 30 years.Among men, doctors say the average sperm count has halved in recent years, dropping from approximately 30 million sperm, to 15 million.Michael Fakih, an IVF doctor at Emirates Hospital, said that between 50 and 60 percent of the time in the UAE it is men who are infertile, compared with just 40-45 percent of the time in the US, where he also has a practice. He and other experts also believe that Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome – one of the biggest causes of infertility among women – is becoming a huge problem in the Gulf states. “For females, there has been an increase in Polycystic Ovarian Disease, which is to do with lifestyle, eating more carbs, not exercising, obesity,” he said. “Even the expat women who come and live here often end up developing PCD.” He added that an increase in education and literacy among women and a change in the way IVF is perceived has helped boost demand for the treatment. “The numbers are increasing with more awareness of the help available. Previously there was a social stigma attached to having IVF, but now it is more acceptable. Women come in, and their husbands are sitting with them in the waiting room.” The hospital carries out around 100-120 IVF procedures per month, the equivalent of 1,500 per year.However, Fakih believes that across all UAE clinics, there is approximately 10,000 procedures per year, compared with approximately 4,000 procedures some years ago. “We are seeing a much faster growth among the locals. Especially in Abu Dhabi where it is covered by the government.” From / Arabian Business News