The government of Karnataka is expected to give a clearance for setting up a primary infertility centre at the Vani Vilas Hospital within two months. The approval for the infertility centre, which is a first of its kind in the State, is expected to materialise as the final consent is to come from the State's medical education department.

The project comprises of three-phases and the first phase needs a budget allocation of Rs.20 lakh. The funds are sourced from both the government and the corporate sector. Bangalore Assisted Conception Centre, headed by Dr. Kamini A Rao, will be in charge of the infertility clinic and it has also insisted the government to consider infertility as a disease so that it can come under the purview of insurance where cost of treatment could be made affordable.

Dr. Kamini Rao expressed that although infertility is a component of the RCH (reproductive health care) programme, there had been no major efforts by the government to help the rural patients access treatment for infertility, which was beyond their means. The most expensive part of the infertility treatment was the high cost of drugs and BACC has discussed with the State government to give these 'life-giving' drugs the same concessions of 'life saving' drugs.

BACC has also announced its successful effort of a conception of baby girl with the help of Laser Assisted Hatching, which is one of the newest techniques in the field. The baby was born to parents in Tamil Nadu on January 1, 2003.

Assisted hatching involves the creation of an artificial opening in the zona, which is the outer covering of the embryo, prior to the embryo transfer thus allowing efficient embryo hatching through this artificial gap. "It facilitates early hatching of the embryo with the uterine lining and improves the synchronisation between embryo development and uterine receptivity, informed Dr. Kamini Rao. The hatching is done mechanically, chemically and with the use of laser. The technique, which is a part of the IVF (In-vitro Fertilisation) procedure, which will revolutionise the success rates of infertility, she noted. The cost of treatment was not revealed following the Karnataka Medical Council stand not to reveal the treatment cost as it varied from each centre in each city.