The Ministry of Health, represented by the Directorate-General of Khoula Hospital, celebrated on Wednesday the inauguration of the Fertility Centre at Khoula Hospital under the auspices of HH Dr Sayyida Muna bint Fahd al Said, Assistant Vice-Chancellor of Sultan Qaboos University (SQU).
The centre is equipped with the latest lab technologies and is the first government centre in the Sultanate of Oman that provides several services to help couples overcome the problems of pregnancy and childbirth and boasts a medical team with wide experience in the field of fertility.
Dr Muna stated that the opening of the fertility centre is considered the first of its kind in the government health sector, an important and joyful event for people who face challenges in the field. “The centre provides consultation from doctors specialised in the field of fertility who will contribute to providing the treatment plan, as well as providing medical and emotional support to couples during their journey in dealing with the problem of childbearing,” she said.
The Fertility Centre is a specialised centre concerned with women and family affairs, and it has become a tangible reality, with an elite medical staff that includes doctors specialised in fertility and infertility treatments, and qualified technicians with experience to provide comprehensive care.
The centre also provides fertility preservation services by preserving reproductive cells, such as eggs and sperm, for the benefit of groups suffering from diseases and disorders that affect their fertility, such as cancer patients, before starting treatment that affects fertility. It is expected to receive 1,000 cases in the first year, with the number rising to 1,500 cases in the second year.
Dr Rahma bint Hamoud al Ghabshiyah, senior consultant in obstetrics and gynaecology, specialising in delayed pregnancy and IVF techniques, said, “The opening of the Fertility Centre is considered a major achievement and a qualitative transfer in the level of health services provided by the Ministry of Health to a segment of society that suffers from delayed pregnancy and needs fertilisation services using high and specialised techniques.”
She added that in order for any service to have success and sustainability, it must be surrounded by requirements that guarantee its survival and service to the largest group or segment of society. These requirements are based on internationally known scientific foundations to ensure success, and the priority comes in the target group of women, which is the group of women who have not previously given birth.
Treatment at the centre includes women suffering from primary or secondary infertility without having healthy, living children from an existing marriage, men with diseases that prevent pregnancy, and women and men with cancerous or other diseases that could affect fertility and before the start of chemotherapy and radiotherapy.
The Centre will receive cases referred from the obstetrics and gynaecology departments of all hospitals and government health complexes from all governorates, urology clinics treating male infertility, reproductive endocrinology clinics in the Royal Hospital, Wattayah Complex, endocrine clinics, and from oncology centres to preserve fertility through freezing eggs, sperm or embryos.
In the centre's initial endeavours, a total of 576 patients were examined from October 1, 2013 until January 31, 2024 from all regions of the Sultanate.
Faten Talal Khayyat, an embryologist in the IVF laboratory, said, “We operated the laboratory for approximately three months and the laboratory was provided with the latest equipment and the highest standards of quality control in the laboratory to ensure the accuracy of the quality of work to monitor the conditions in which the embryos are implanted and returned to the uterus. The laboratory is provided with the latest Incubators to preserve embryos and the latest devices to preserve fertility."
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