• Submitted by: admin
• Caribbean
• Havana
• international
• Health and Medicine
• Science and Technology
• 05 / 28 / 2009

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Dr. Bartolome Arce Hidalgo, chief of Endocrinology and Assisted Reproduction Services of the Hermanos Ameijeiras hospital, the only one of its type at this moment in the country, said other centers will be opened in Havana City and in other provinces of Cuba.

The doctor explained that assisted reproduction service centers will be equipped with high-technology and all policlinics, family doctor clinics, and even the smallest hospitals will be involved.

Groups of multidisciplinary teams, endocrinologists and gynaecologists will make the primary diagnosis and in the cases where therapeutic measures do not fix the problem, patients will be sent to a specialized institution for higher levels of treatment, explained the doctor.

He pointed out that the cost of invitro fertilization in other countries, for example in the US, is more than 10,000 dollars because the medicines required for the treatment and the medical procedures are very expensive and in many cases the first attempt is not successful so it requires a second procedure.

The doctor explained that 10 to 15 percent of couples of reproductive age suffer from infertility.

The first assisted reproduction in Cuba was successfully achieved 17 years ago and produced a girl, said the doctor, who noted that since the creation of this service in Cuba in 2004 and up to 2008, 120 pregnancies have been attained with a significant number of births.

The Cuban achievements in this field will be presented in the First International Congress on Assisted Reproduction and Women Sexual Health underway in Havana until Friday.

(Juventud Rebelde)