Hope for the Infertile: Dr. Sanumaiya’s Voice Reaches Tokyo
The Shine of IVF, Challenges in Nepal: Dr. Shrestha’s Insightful Message
Nepal Health News, Tokyo, Japan: At the 2025 World Congress of the International Federation of Fertility Societies (IFFS) held in Tokyo, Japan, senior Nepali infertility and IVF specialist Dr. Sanumaiya Shrestha Pradhan presented a paper on the current status and challenges of IVF services in Nepal.
The conference took place from April 26 to 30, and Dr. Shrestha’s presentation was titled “Current Status and Challenges in Assisted Reproductive Technology Treatment Services in Nepal.”
To prepare the paper, she conducted a survey of IVF centers in Nepal and collected data from the Ministry of Health and Population. Under the symposium titled “Data and Global Fertility Knowledge”, representatives from Japan, China, Nigeria, and other countries presented papers on their national IVF services, technologies, and data. Dr. Shrestha described the conference as "very organized, rich, and full of knowledge," with participation from experts across the globe including Nepal, India, China, Africa, the USA, the UK, Australia, and Russia.
According to her, the conference featured recent advancements in reproductive technology such as In Vitro Maturation (IVM), Dormant Follicle Activation, and Piezo-ICSI, providing insight into the rapid progress in IVF globally.
Dr. Shrestha stated that although IVF services are expanding in Nepal, challenges remain in quality control, data management, integrated guidelines, and government support. “There is some practice of record-keeping, but there’s no uniformity, and quality control is lacking,” she said.
As per statistics presented at the conference, Japan's birth rate has dropped to 0.9%, while the global average is 1.3%. Dr. Shrestha noted that Nepal is also seeing a declining birth rate, indicating an urgent need for improvement and expansion in IVF services.
She pointed out Japan’s example, where IVF services are made widely accessible through insurance, emphasizing the need for Nepal to upgrade both policies and technologies. In Japan, the live IVF delivery rate through IVM is 35%, while the standard IVF delivery rate is 43%.
Dr. Shrestha, who has worked in the field of infertility and IVF for the past 20 years, is Nepal’s first IVF specialist. She currently works at Creators IVF Nepal, located in Satdobato, Lalitpur.
