Technology
More teachers embrace reproductive technology
Monday August 08 2022
Fertility Clinic IVF Specialist Dr. Rajesh Chaudhary works on a sample at the clinic. FILE PHOTO | NMG
Some 160 teachers have undergone In-Vitro Fertilisation (IVF) technique in the past three years signifying the growing popularity of assisted reproductive technology in the country.
Insurance brokerage firm Minet Kenya caters for 318,000 Teachers Service Commission (TSC) staff that currently enjoy enhanced medical cover.
Accessing IVF option is not open to many Kenyans owing to exorbitant fees. It costs around Sh90,000 to transfer frozen embryos, Sh462,000 for treatment with an own egg donor and Sh492,000 for treatment with an anonymous egg donor.
“In the last three years, over 160 beneficiaries have accessed this benefit under the Teachers Medical scheme, where we cater for part of the expense,” said Minet Kenya CEO Sammy Muthui.
During the procedure, doctors take eggs from a woman and fertilise them with sperm outside the body.
The fertilised ova known as the embryo, can then be transferred to the woman’s uterus, where they will follow the normal infant development stages and enable the mother to deliver after nine months.
The benefit available only for principal members and/or their spouses is covered under the inpatient benefit as per the available limit.
“We have agreed on rates with empaneled facilities that offer IVF services, which include Fertility Point Hospital and Mediheal Group of Hospitals (Parklands and Eldoret),” Mr Muthui said.
TSC renewed the Minet Kenya contract for provision of medical cover for all teachers and their dependents effective November 1, 2019, with benefits pegged on teachers’ respective job groups.
It caters for inpatient treatment that requires admission to and stays in a hospital or daycare surgery/ procedure with the cover ranging from Sh750,000 to Sh2.5 million.
Benefits -paid after subtracting National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF) rebates- under this cover include bed entitlement, doctor’s fee, laboratory, radiotherapy, IVF, renal dialysis and cancer treatment.
Diagnosis and drugs linked to the IVF procedure are not covered since the treatment is fertility related.
The IVF technique is the most effective form of assisted reproductive technology that enables couples struggling to have children to achieve this goal.