In a news the Polish city of Łódź has funded the birth of 455 children born through in vitro fertilization (IVF) treatments in last seven years since it stepped in to replace financing cut by the conservative national government
This new data comes out after the amid renewed debate over IVF, when the opposition pledging to restore government funding to IVF if they come to power at this year’s elections but a figure from the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party yesterday condemning IVF as the artificial “production of children”.
In 2015, just a few weeks after coming into power, PiS (Prawo i Sprawiedliwość), the right wing populist and national conservative political party had moved to end the IVF financing scheme which was introduced by the previous government two years earlier. It claimed that the programme was very costly, but also noted that there were “fundamental ethical objections from a large part of society”.
Due to this sudden decision, some authorities in number of Poland’s largest cities- whose local authorities are in opposition hands has decided to stepped in to provide their own funding or support for couples seeking IVF treatment. Among them were Warsaw, Kraków, Gdańsk, Łódź, Poznań and Częstochowa.
Last week, the polish city Łódź revealed that, during the seven years its programme has been running, around 1,300 couples have received funding for IVF treatment, leading to 455 children being born.
Couples can receive subsidies of up to 5,000 zloty (€1,100) for one round of treatment, and are able to apply for up to three treatments. The city, which is Poland’s fourth largest, plans to spend 1 million zloty this year for 200 treatments.
By contrast, a 40 million zloty programme established by the PiS government to help couples conceive without IVF led to 209 conceptions in a 15-month period over 2021 and 2022, notes broadcaster TVN24.
Last year, the largest opposition party, Civic Platform (PO) – which had introduced state funding for IVF when it was in power in 2013 – launched a campaign to restore such financing at the national level. It is hoping to come to power as part of an opposition coalition at this year’s elections.
News Resource courtesy from – notesfrompoland.com, May 26, 2023
