Okaz/Saudi Gazette

JEDDAH — Saudi Arabia’s Health Insurance Council is carrying out studies with regard to including infertility treatment under the coverage of medical insurance, Okaz/Saudi Gazette has learned from well-informed medical sources.

Speaking to Okaz/Saudi Gazette, Dr. Hassan Saleh Jamal, professor of obstetrics, gynecology, and infertility, said that the rate of delayed childbearing among Saudis ranged between 15 and 20 percent. He noted that such cases are increasing all over the world, due to the change in lifestyle, in addition to health, psychological and environmental problems.

Dr. Jamal called on the Health Insurance Council to quickly include delayed childbearing among the insurance benefits to cope with the increasing number of such cases.

On her part, Dr. Haneen Abdul-Jabbar, a consultant obstetrician, and gynecologist indicated that the cost of artificial insemination reached SR7,000 while the expense for Intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) stood at SR15,000. She noted that 30 percent of cases of delayed childbearing are reported without a medical reason. About 15 cases of clinical visits per month are those who suffer from delayed pregnancy, Dr. Haneen pointed out.

The council updates insurance benefits at regular intervals of time. The updated basic insurance policy excludes the coverage of devices, means, drugs, procedures, surgeries, and hormone therapy for the purpose of obtaining pregnancy or treatment of infertility, impotence, infertility, in vitro fertilization or any other means of artificial insemination.