The first patient files of 178 people awaiting fertility treatment have been sent by the government to a private clinic so that the couples can start the long-awaited process of becoming parents.
These patients are among the 650 who have been on the waiting list to receive treatment at the state-owned Mater Dei IVF clinic, which will be undergoing refurbishment to improve the technology used.
The target to reopen is later this year.
“The contract between the government and Hope Fertility and IVF clinic has been signed with a commencement date of August 1, 2024.
To date, a total of 178 patient files have already been sent to Hope clinic to start the evaluation process, also since most cases have been waiting for more than six months, and new testing and screening need to be carried out,” a Health Ministry spokesperson said.
Applications for treatment of the 178 patients have already been approved by the regulatory authority, the Embryo Protection Authority. Meanwhile, new patient lists are being sent to Hope daily, the spokesman said.
In June, Health Minister JoEtienne Abela announced that the clinic that carries out IVF procedures at Mater Dei will be closed for six months while it is being expanded and upgraded, with patients sent to a private clinic instead.
The government allocated €6 million so that around 650 couples, who are on the Mater Dei waiting list, could get their treatment at Hope Fertility and IVF clinic.
But before that could happen, the health authorities had to secure the procurement of new equipment to replace that purchased in 2014, when the clinic started operating.
That process has started but some parts are pending.
“The procurement started in May 2022 and 23 calls for tenders were published for 92 pieces of equipment and 55 consumables/materials/reagents. All of them are awarded except two calls of highly specialised critical pieces of equipment for collecting, processing, storing and distributing gametes/embryos. Final calls for offers closed on July 22,” the spokesperson said.
Asked what would happen to couples who could not afford to wait longer for treatment at Mater Dei, and went private at their own expense before government signed the agreement with Hope, the spokesperson said that “patients who opted to do their treatment at the private clinics, irrespective if they were on the waiting list of MDH or if they just opted to do their treatment privately in Malta, would get a refund of their treatment medication with effect from January 1, 2023.”
To date, 84 applications have been received by the Embryo Protection Authority from both patients undergoing treatment at Hope and patients undergoing IUIs (intrauterine inseminations) at other registered clinics. These applications total to a refund of €236,043, he said.
There would be further refunds for medication given to patients undergoing treatment at MDH as of January 1, 2022.
The authority has so far approved over 780 applications, which amount to €1.2 million, pushing total refunds above €1.4 million.