IVF medication will be free of charge from next year, Chris Fearne announces

Medication required in the run-up to in-vitro fertilisation process will be given free of charge from next year, Health Minister Chris Fearne said.

Speaking in parliament on Wednesday in the debate on the financial estimates for the Embryo Protection Authority, Fearne said government will be covering the full expense for IVF treatment carried out at Mater Dei Hospital, including the medication required to stimulate the woman.

So far, the IVF procedure at the public hospital is carried out for free, which sees people undergoing treatment save up to €15,000 in expenses. However, the hormone therapy required prior to the IVF procedure is not free of charge and can easily set back patients by €3,000. 

Earlier this year, the Opposition called for medication to be given for free and pledged to implement the proposal if elected to government.

Fearne said that from next year, the medication will be included in the free service offered at Mater Dei Hospital.

The minister said that government will continue to improve the IVF law in such a way as to give families more opportunities. He did not specify what the changes will be but last April Fearne floated the idea of making prenatal genetic diagnosis (PGD) legal.

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Opposition warns of ethical implications of PGD

Opposition spokesperson Stephen Spiteri sounded a cautionary note on the ethical implications of PGD.

While PGD can be useful in cases of people with hereditary diseases like Huntington’s to prevent them from passing on the disease to their offspring, it can also be used to identify embryos with a potential of developing Down’s Syndrome, he said.

“We have to understand the implications of PGD… we all know how sweet children with Down’s Syndrome are and eliminating embryos because of Down’s is an insult to members of the Down’s Syndrome Association,” Spiteri warned.

Spiteri also used the occasion to reiterate the importance sexual education in schools as an antidote to abortion.

“Abortion goes against what we are discussing today… I am against abortion but I understand those who have different ideas and I will be ready to listen and discuss. But we also have to take note of the majority of people who consistently have given importance to life,” Spiteri said.

Spiteri added that abortion must not be viewed as a solution for everything. “We need to strengthen sexual education in schools to help reduce the incidence of people having unwanted pregnancies… We need to look at the long-term implications and seriousness of the matter,” he said.

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