This is the only public sector facility located in the interior of Portugal capable of providing a complete and integrated response in all aspects of Assisted Medical Procreation (AMP).
“The assessment is clearly positive. It was a long journey that required commitment, vision, and collaboration from numerous professionals and institutions. Today, we are proud to be a national reference center and an excellent training hub,” highlighted the service director, António Hélio Oliani.
The Reproductive Medicine Service of the ULS of Cova da Beira, in Covilhã (Castelo Branco district), boasts a multidisciplinary team including doctors, embryologists, nurses, technicians, and psychologists, supported by the Urology and Anesthesia services of the hospital unit.
The ULS states that this service “on average performs about 3,000 clinical acts per year, totaling approximately 40,000 procedures over the last 15 years, including consultations, exams, and treatments.”
The couples they attend come from all over the country, including foreign residents with a National Health Service user number.
Techniques such as In Vitro Fertilization (IVF), Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection (ICSI), Intrauterine Insemination (IUI), and cryopreservation of gametes and embryos are “highly complex interventions that the service performs with recognized quality and efficiency.”
According to the ULS, “besides the direct impact on families,” it has also played a “fundamental role in training and scientific research, hosting internal doctors and biologists from across the country and abroad and participating in numerous national and international research projects.”
The Reproductive Medicine Service of the ULS of Cova da Beira maintains “response times significantly below the national average,” ensuring “swift, fair, and equitable access to reproductive health care, proving that the best medicine is also practiced in the interior, and with each new birth, the core purpose of the National Health Service is renewed,” emphasized Oliani.
António Hélio Oliani, who has been the service director since its inception, conveyed the primary message to families: never give up on the dream. “Here you will find a dedicated, competent, and welcoming team ready to help you,” he stated.
