ANSWER
THE MINISTER OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE
(SHRI JAGAT PRAKASH NADDA)
(a) to (d): A statement is laid on the Table of the House
STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO LOK SABHA
STARRED QUESTION NO. 493* FOR 7TH APRIL, 2017
(a): Yes. The prevalence of primary infertility was found to be 4.0% from urban area and 3.7% from rural area as per the survey conducted by Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) in 13 States of the country and 37, 570 women were enrolled for the study.
(b): The National Family Health Surveys (NFHS), coordinated by the International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS) under the aegis of Government of India, have been carried out periodically since 1992. Four such surveys have been carried out till date.
NFHS-4 (January 2015 to December 2016) has conducted studies on fertility rate of women (children per women) through 14 Field Agencies and gathered information from 601,509 households, 699,686 women, and 103,525 men.
Age of women, age at first marriage, place of residence, standard of living, working status of women and region are some of the variables related with the rate of infertility and childlessness. Infertility rate is high amongst women in urban areas. This may be due to lifestyle or first marriage at late age. This can be related to the fact that with aspirations for attaining higher educational level, marriage is delayed as a result of which in confirmation with aforementioned causation factors (higher age at marriage, urban living style etc.), infertility rate is high among this sub group of population.
(c): Pradhan Mantri Surakshit Matritva Abhiyan has been launched by the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare (MoHFW), Government of India, to safe guard pregnant women from the time of pregnancy up to the delivery. The program aims to provide assured, comprehensive and quality antenatal care, free of cost, universally to all pregnant women.
The State Government of Assam has introduced a new scheme named “Matrutva Yojana” for tribal couples who have not been able to conceive after three year of marriage. The State Government under the Matrutva Yojana provides financial assistance of up to Rs. 5 lakh per married couple for fertility treatment.
Tribal couples in Goa, who have been unable to conceive after three years of marriage, will now get monetary assistance from the Government of up to five lakh rupees per married couple, to receive fertility treatment.
Jiyo Parsi program, funded by Ministry of Minority Affairs is aimed at low-income and middle-class Parsis who wouldn’t be able to afford expensive medical treatment like IVF. The scheme aims to arrest the decline in population of the Parsi Zoroastrian Community in India.
(d): At present, there are no awareness programmes in the Department of Health and Family Welfare to control infertility.
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