NHRC notices to Health, ICMR secys on ‘dubious’ IVF clinics

The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) took suo motu cognisance of a media report which claimed that most in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) clinics, which help childless couples conceive, were operating in Delhi without any registration.

"Many of such centres do not have adequate trained manpower and infrastructure to handle these highly- sophisticated technologies. Services provided by some of these clinics were highly questionable. The Commission has observed that the contents of the press report, if true, raise a serious issue of violation of human rights of childless couples in the country," the NHRC said in a statement.
The Commission has sought report from the Health Ministry and ICMR within two weeks.

According to a media report dated April 26, out of over three hundred such clinics operating in the national capital, only 39 were registered with the ICMR.

The ICMR does not maintain any data on the unregistered IVF clinics. The ICMR has registered only 308 Assisted Reproductive Technologies (ART) clinics across the country in the past ten years.