Keywords
IVF
access
Abstract
INTRODUCTION. Infertility is a medical and social problem with an
increasing incidence in recent years. Assisted human reproduction techniques
represent the most effective method of treating infertility. The purpose of the
research was to analyze the accessibility of couples with infertility to assisted
human reproduction services (particularly to in vitro fertilization - IVF
procedures) in the Republic of Moldova in order to create evidence-based data for
the development of possible solutions to increase access to these services.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: Study type: descriptive, cross-sectional,
conducted between November 2023 and March 2024. Target population - 397
women which envisages an in vitro fertilization procedure.
RESULTS OBTAINED: The socio-demographic profile of the study
participants is: predominantly women from the age group of 30-39 years (about
57%), who reside in urban areas (73.8%); residents in the central area of the
country in an overwhelming proportion (about 76%); with university and postuniversity
studies in 2/3 of cases. More than half of the respondents (58.4%) are
undergoing their first IVF procedure. The main findings regarding the
accessibility of medically assisted human reproduction services are: there is
limited geographical accessibility, including the fact that all 5 assisted human
reproduction centers in the country are located in Chisinau Municipality. The
majority of the women surveyed (84.9%) use their own financial resources for
IVF and consider these costs to be high and very high. 4.5% of respondents
benefited from partial financial support provided by CNAM, and only 6.8%
received financial support from the Municipal Program.
CONCLUSIONS: The presence of gaps and barriers in accessing assisted
human reproduction services was established, among them the financial barrier,
incomplete information of service beneficiaries, distances from assisted human
reproduction centers, bureaucracy when applying to financial support programs.