Expert Urges Insurance Reforms for Infertility Treatment in Vietnam

Prof. Dr. Nguyen Viet Tien, former deputy minister of Health and president of the Vietnam Association of Gynecology and Obstetrics (VAGO), has emphasized the need for policy reforms in health insurance payments to better meet public demand for infertility treatment, contributing to maintaining population quality and stability.

The expert shared these views during an international conference on improving the success rate of assisted reproduction, held in collaboration between VAGO and Merck on September 7-8.

He warned that without timely solutions and attention to infertility issues, Vietnam may soon face challenges from a rapidly aging population, making demographic management difficult.

He pointed out that despite the advanced capabilities of Vietnam's infertility treatments, such as achieving a 60% success rate in in-vitro fertilization (IVF), the cost remains high for most citizens.

He added that countries like France offer four free IVF cycles covered by insurance and China included 16 reproductive services under health insurance coverage in 2022. Meanwhile, Vietnamese patients must cover these expenses out-of-pocket.

Vietnam sees over one million couples facing infertility annually, with a rate of 7.7%, including 3.9% primary infertility and 3.8% secondary infertility, according to the latest data from the Ministry of Health. 

(Suc Khoe Doi Song, VnExpress, Dau Tu, CafeF, VietnamNet, Dan Tri, Phu Nu Online, Thanh Nien, Cong Luan)