Punjab govt announces free test tube baby facility

LAHORE: Following a recent announcement by Dr Yasmin Rashid, Health Minister of Punjab, Punjab would be the first province in Pakistan to provide free in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) or test tube baby services at a public hospital in Lahore. 

In Lahore's Mother and Child Hospital, this procedure will be accessible. Imran Khan, Prime Minister of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, will officially inaugurate it in June.

According to Dr Yasmin Rashid, infertile patients would be able to take advantage of the procedure. To help conceive a child, IVF utilises a variety of techniques. In vitro fertilisation (IVF) is a process in which sperm fertilises eggs taken from a woman's ovaries. The embryo is subsequently returned to the woman's womb and fertilised. Costs may be prohibitive.

The first-time Pakistani government would offer IVF at a public facility despite it being widely available at private facilities. Federal Shariat Court ruled in 2017 that IVF therapy for married couples is permitted.