PN questions government’s consultation on new egg and sperm freezing procedure, Labour hits back

The Nationalist Party has welcomed the government’s announcement that the national health service will offer egg and sperm freezing for later use in IVF, but raised concerns over what it claimed was a lack of consultation with professionals before the measure was made public.

Opposition leader Alex Borg said health consultants were left out of the consultation process and were not even informed beforehand about the development.

“As happened with the recent increases in the tariffs for the registration of medicines, in this case too, health consultants were not only left out of the consultation process but, it appears, not even informed beforehand,” Borg said during a visit to St Thomas Hospital in Qormi on Thursday morning.

He was accompanied by health spokesperson Stephen Spiteri and received by the hospital’s director, Louis Buhagiar, a medical doctor.

Borg reiterated that the PN supports IVF because it supports life and every solution that enables life to be created. However, he questioned the criteria behind offering the service to those aged between 18 and 34, particularly when the average age for access to this service in other countries is 31.

“It is also a known fact that the need for this facility tends to increase with age, so it is unclear why individuals over 35 who wish to become parents will not benefit,” he said.

The Opposition leader also asked whether Mater Dei Hospital is equipped to offer a service of this magnitude and whether the national health system can sustain such a change. He recalled how the government had previously pledged to lower the mammogram screening age for women from 50 to 45, only to abandon the plan once it became clear it was not viable.

During the hospital visit, Borg was shown around the Emergency Department and Radiology Department of the private hospital, which currently has 30 beds and will soon expand and offer a 24-hour service.

This follows an agreement earlier this year for non-critical emergency care cases to be outsourced to private hospitals to ease the burden on the national health service.

The hospital management and Opposition leader agreed that public-private partnerships in healthcare should not be merely an emergency fallback when government hospitals are overwhelmed, but should be planned, structured and permanent.

Borg highlighted the PN’s proposal to incentivise greater use of private healthcare services by allocating a portion of taxpayers’ National Insurance contributions towards private health insurance under a future PN government, ensuring citizens have access to private hospitals when needed.

The Healthcare First Group, which operates St Thomas Hospital, officially opened in 2016. It also runs the Good Samaritan Hospital in St Paul’s Bay and two elderly care homes. The group employs around 200 people, 70 of whom work at St Thomas Hospital.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Labour Party reacts

Meanwhile, the Labour Party said Borg did not understand the subject of IVF and accused him of trying to appease everybody, including former MPs like Edwin Vassallo and Adrian Delia, "who are uncomfortable with IVF".

"This is why Alex Borg said he agreed with the new service but tried to find every excuse to question it," the PL said.

The party said the new proposal is intended to improve the fertility rate and give couples peace of mind. It said the new service was announced after consultations with stakeholders. "As proposed by professionals, the eligible age for such a service has been reduced from 37 to 34," the statement said.

The PL also underscored that the government has just completed a €3.5 million renovation of the IVF clinic at Mater Dei Hospital to be able to offer a better service and expand its offering.

"Egg and sperm freezing costs a lot of money that not every person can afford but with a strong economy, the government is capable of offering this service for free," the PL said.