BUCHAREST, July 23 -- Romania will maintain its national in vitro fertilization (IVF) program this year, allocating funds for 10,000 procedures, the same as last year, the Ministry of Family, Youth and Equal Opportunities said on Tuesday.

The program, designed to support couples and single individuals, aims to address the country's declining birth rate, which has been falling for the past two decades.

At least one member of the couple or the single infertile woman must be a Romanian citizen or resident to qualify for aid. Beneficiaries will receive vouchers totaling 3,273 U.S. dollars to help cover medications and medical procedures. According to local media, this amount covers about half of the total IVF expenses.

The National Institute of Statistics (INS) reported that 2023 saw the lowest number of live births since 1930, totaling 155,400. It also shows that 73,000 babies were born in the first half of 2023, the lowest figure recorded, compared to a death rate of 1.6 times higher than the number of births during the first six-month period.

Romania became the 18th country in the world to achieve IVF success in 1996. It launched a national IVF and embryo transfer program in 2011.

  - Xinhua