Five couples benefitted from genetic testing of embryos for hereditary diseases

Mater Dei Hospital is still not equipped to carry out pre-implantation genetic testing on embryos almost two years after the law regulating in-vitro fertilisation was changed.

But eligible couples are being refunded the costs of PGT carried out in the private sector, the Health Ministry said. Five couples have so far benefitted from the scheme.

The law regulating in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) was changed in 2022 to allow doctors to carry out genetic tests on embryos for nine hereditary diseases in cases where the couple has a family history. PGT allows doctors to choose only healthy embryos for transfer into the woman’s womb. However, the law states that defective embryos will have to be kept frozen and not discarded or given up for scientific research.

Government had said that PGT will be offered for free on the national health service but Mater Dei Hospital’s ART Clinic had to be upgraded to cater for the new development.

A spokesperson for the Health Ministry said two out of the 23 tenders issued for modern equipment are being appealed.

“There were 23 calls for tenders published for 92 new pieces of equipment and 55 consumables/material reagents. Most of these tenders are awarded.  Two tenders are still pending due to appeals, for critical equipment such as workstations and incubators,” the ministry said.

It did not provide a timeline for when PGT will be available on the national health service.

Health Minister Jo Etienne Abela told Nationalist MP Graziella Galea last month in a parliamentary reply that all equipment at the ART Clinic would be modernised in “a few months’ time”.

Meanwhile, since 2022 five couples had their requests for a refund approved.

In a second parliamentary reply to a question by Galea, the minister said that an application for PGT costs to be covered by the government that was filed in November 2022 has been refunded.

Applications filed in December 2022, July and August 2023, and February 2024 are still “active”.

The minister revealed that an application filed in July 2023 was refused. The reasons for refusal were not given.

The refund scheme covers expenses linked to genetic tests that are authorised under Maltese law. ART clinics in Malta can only test for nine hereditary diseases, however, in other countries such as the UK, the list is significantly much longer.

The Health Ministry spokesperson said expanding the list of diseases for which PGT is allowed does not fall within the remit of the ministry but is the realm of the Embryo Protection Authority, the IVF regulator.

PGT list approved by IVF regulator

Pre-implantation genetic testing can be carried out for the following monogenetic disorders (PGTM) only but the Embryo Protection Authority can add more conditions to the list if they satisfy certain criteria

Finnish Nephrotic Syndrome • Gangliosidosis • Huntington Disease • Joubert Syndrome • Maple Syrup Urine Syndrome • Nemaline Myopathy • Spinal Muscular Atrophy • Tay-Sachs Disease • Walker-Warburg Syndrome

IVF hormone treatment refund scheme extended

Meanwhile, on Monday, the Health Minister announced that hormonal treatment associated with IVF will be reimbursed even for patients who undergo the process in licensed private clinics.

Originally, while IVF treatment at Mater Dei Hospital was free, the hormonal treatment was not. Government later started reimbursing the costs of hormonal treatment for patients who carried out the IVF procedure at Mater Dei. Now, the refund scheme for hormonal treatment has been extended to private clinics as well.

Jo Etienne Abela said by the end of March 2024, the Embryo Protection Authority had approved payments of €1 million in refunds to prospective parents for medicines they had bought.

He added that every prospective parent who underwent IUI, IVF or embryo transfer in a licensed private clinic up to 1 January 2023 will also be entitled to this refund. He said a total of 285 prospective parents, who underwent these procedures will be benefiting from the extension of the refund that will cost €250,000.

Abela said a further 634 prospective parents already benefited from the refund for hormonal treatment associated with IVF done at Mater Dei since December 2022.

In a statement the Nationalist Party welcomed news of the extended refund scheme for patients undergoing IVF in private clinics.

PN health spokesperson Adrian Delia noted this was a proposal the party had made during discussions on the law amending IVF legislation in 2022 but which the government ignored at the time.