Cancer Research UK: Patients should have access
Tuesday, 15 Jan 2008 12:07
Cancer patients should be offered access to fertility treatment on the NHS, Cancer Research UK has said.
The charity's comments follow a report from the Royal Colleges of Physicians, Radiologists and Obstetricians and Gynaecologists which said treatment is not always widely available, funded and universally provided.
The report calls for a national policy on sperm, egg and embryo storage and says funding bodies should develop equitable funding protocols for patients.
Commenting, Cath Foot, Cancer Research UK's head of policy, said: "More people are surviving cancer but some still experience long-term effects, like fertility problems, from treatment. This report highlights a worrying inequality in access to fertility treatments across the country.
"The NHS should ensure that Nice [National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence] guidance is properly followed so that any fertility risk from cancer treatment is explained to patients who should be offered access to sperm, egg and embryo storage."
