World IVF Day commemorates the birth of Louise Joy Brown in Oldham, Greater Manchester, in 1978, the first baby ever conceived through IVF. However, despite this remarkable achievement, Helen Coffey writing in the Independent notes that nearly 50 years on, access to IVF treatment on the NHS in England is becoming harder than ever to access .
PET director Sarah Norcross said
'I think we should stop calling it a "postcode lottery". A lottery implies that you’ve got some luck in this – but you’ve only got luck if you happen to live in that particular place. You don’t get any more luck once you’re there. You’re stuck.'
Location is not the only factor which may prevent people from accessing NHS- funded IVF, Coffey cited PET research which revealed that female GPs are almost 20 percent more likely than their male peers to refer patients for NHS-funded fertility treatment.
The article also featured contributions from Gwenda Burns, chief executive of The Fertility Alliance, and Kevin McEleny, chair of the British Fertility Society.
Together we will keep campaigning to improve access to NHS- funded fertility treatment across the UK .
You can read the full article in the Independent here.