This year, a new package of medical services called “Treatment of infertility with the help of assisted reproductive technologies (in vitro fertilisation)” was introduced under the medical guarantees programme. This was reported by Komersant ukrainskyi
with reference to the press service of the Cabinet of Ministers.
The state budget for 2024 provides UAH 1.87 billion for this service to provide such services to 30,000 patients. As of 31 July 2024, contracts for this package of medical services were concluded for UAH 50 million.
Currently, the medical guarantee programme provides free infertility treatment services at 15 medical facilities in different regions of the country (including Kyiv, Lviv, Dnipro, Chernivtsi, Rivne, Odesa, and Ivano-Frankivsk).
Since the beginning of the year, the largest number of infertility treatment services using assisted reproductive technologies have been provided by the Lviv Regional Council’s municipal non-profit enterprise Lviv Regional Clinical Perinatal Centre (Lviv) and the Limited Liability Company Dobrobut Polyclinic Medical Centre (Kyiv).
Patients can receive infertility treatment services using assisted reproductive technologies at any medical facility that provides such services, regardless of their place of residence.
“The availability of infertility treatment services using assisted reproductive technologies is important. After all, we should already take care of the demographic situation in our country, which, according to experts, is quite disappointing given the problems of population decline due to the invasion of the Russian Federation and the ageing of the population. However, the low demand for these services indicates a low level of public awareness,” commented Deputy Minister of Finance Roman Yermolychev.
How to use in vitro fertilisation free of charge
According to the Ministry of Health, the medical service under the package “Treatment of Infertility with the help of Assisted Reproductive Technologies” is provided subject to a diagnosis of female infertility or male infertility.
The patient’s age at the start of the cycle should be no more than 40 years old.
First, a woman should visit an obstetrician-gynaecologist at a specialised facility that has a contract with the NHSU for the Prevention, Diagnosis, Monitoring and Treatment on an Outpatient Basis package.
No referral is required. The obstetrician-gynaecologist will conduct an examination, determine the indications for IVF, and, if necessary, refer you to a consultation with related specialists (therapist, cardiologist, neurologist, endocrinologist, etc.)
At this stage, inpatient treatment or further examination may be required. An obstetrician-gynaecologist can refer a woman to a specialised multidisciplinary institution or perinatal centre that provides free services as part of the packages “Inpatient Surgery for Adults and Children” and “Inpatient Care for Adults and Children without Surgery”.
After the additional examination, the obstetrician-gynaecologist refers the patient to a multidisciplinary consultation either in a specialised multidisciplinary facility, a perinatal centre or a facility providing ART services. The medical consultation decides whether there are grounds for receiving infertility treatment and whether there are no contraindications.
A woman has the right to choose where to receive such treatment from the list of institutions that have entered into a relevant agreement with the NHSU. There are currently 15 of them. The list is here.
Is this service free of charge?
A woman can receive one full cycle per year free of charge in case of pregnancy, and in case of a healthy child, subsequent cycles of assisted reproductive technologies are not paid for.
A patient can also receive a second full or partial cycle per year in case of non-pregnancy. There is no need to pay extra for these services.
Treatment is possible on an outpatient basis, as well as on a day-care or regular inpatient basis, depending on the doctor’s prescription. The medical institution guarantees confidentiality of treatment.
What free services are provided under this programme?
- evaluation of the results of previous examinations, examination and counselling of patients to confirm indications or determine contraindications for infertility treatment using assisted reproductive technologies;
- performing controlled drug stimulation of the ovaries in a woman undergoing ART treatment;
- aspiration of the ovarian follicle contents under ultrasound control and search for oocytes in the follicular fluid of a woman undergoing ART treatment;
- anaesthesia for the stage of transvaginal aspiration of ovarian follicles, consultation with an anaesthetist;
- obtaining sperm from the husband of a woman who has indications for ART treatment of infertility, as well as special processing of sperm and its preparation for fertilisation;
- fertilisation of eggs, including by injecting sperm into the cytoplasm of oocytes and cultivation of the resulting embryos;
- embryo transfer;
- monitoring the woman’s condition before pregnancy;
- ultrasound examination of the patient’s pelvic organs;
- selection of the stimulation scheme, medicines, correction of their doses, taking into account the individual characteristics of the patient, the results of clinical, ultrasound examination and monitoring;
- provision of medicines for all stages of the ART cycle;
- preimplantation medical and genetic diagnostics of the embryo for medical reasons, etc.