Obese women 'should not' receive fertility treatment
Obese women 'should not' receive fertility treatment
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Wednesday, 30, Aug 2006 03:22
Severely obese women should not receive fertility treatment, according to advice issued today by fertility experts.
The report from the British Fertility Society (BFS) also calls for single women and same-sex couples to be given equal access to treatment as heterosexual couples.
The recommendations come after the BFS conducted a survey of NHS fertility treatment across England and found unequal access to fertility treatment, insufficient plans to meet government targets and no clear criteria regarding who should be eligible for NHS-funded treatment.
Guidance was published two years ago by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (Nice) on fertility treatment, or in vitro fertilisation (IVF), yet the BFS found that there is a wide disparity in how primary care trusts (PCTs) are implementing the guidelines.
As such the BFS has written to every PCT in England and local health board in Wales asking them to meet government fertility targets and setting out recommended criteria for NHS funding of fertility treatment.
A total of 11 recommendations are outlined, including; advising that women over the age of 40 should not receive NHS-funded treatment; women who are overweight initiate a weight-loss programme before treatment; and that those who are severely overweight should not receive treatment until their weight has reduced.
People with children from previous relationships should not be excluded from access to NHS treatment.
The recommendations have been supported by Infertility Network UK, the main fertility patient group.
Dr Mark Hamilton, chair of the BFS, said that the recommendations should "provide a basis for consistent application of social as well as medical criteria for access to state-funded fertility treatment in England and Wales".
Mr Richard Kennedy, lead author of the study, which is published in the September issue of the journal Human Fertility, said: "If we are to see an end to inequity of access across the United Kingdom there must be an explicit plan for the provision of three fresh cycles of IVF and consistency in the criteria used for NHS treatment.
"The criteria we propose, if adopted by all PCTs in England and Wales, would standardise access to treatment. We must use the findings of this survey to pursue the goal of full implementation of the Nice guideline."
A spokesperson for the Department of Health said that although responsibility for implementing Nice guidelines primarily rests with PCTs, it had made it clear that these guidelines are expected to be followed.
"Local policies should reflect local health needs and priorities, and we recognise that there are variations in IVF provision. That is why we are working with Infertility Network UK on engaging with PCTs to help ensure that fertility patients' voices are heard when decisions about service provision are made," the spokesperson said.