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A campaign call from Infertility Network UK and the National Infertility Awareness Campaign The
NICE guideline was published in February this year and said that
couples who met the criteria should be offered 3 cycles of NHS funded
assisted conception treatment. Shortly after the guideline was
announced, John Reid, The Health Minister said that by April 2005 he
expected that everyone who met the criteria, should be given at least
one cycle of assisted conception treatment and that in the longer term
he wanted to see the guideline fully implemented. This was all
good news for patients in England and Wales, many of whom, in some
areas, had been unable to access any NHS treatment at all. There is
always a "but" however, and in this case there are a few of them.
Infertility Network UK (I N UK) and The National Infertility
Awareness Campaign (NIAC) are closely monitoring the situation and I N
UK have already surveyed both Primary Care Trusts (PCT's) and patients
themselves to get views on how implementation is progressing. The short
answer is that it is progressing slowly and sporadically across the
country. One huge problem is that there has been no central
guidance on what is known as social criteria. Basically, this covers
things like whether you will get treatment if for example one of the
two partners has a child from a previous relationship. Whether either
has been previously sterilized, and even whether the couple have had
previous cycles of treatment. PCT's have been left to make individual
decisions on this up till now. Of course, both I N UK and NIAC will
continue to address this issue with Department of Health officials and
press for central guidance on it, because unless we have that, we will
continue to see inequality, with availability of treatment depending on
where you live under certain circumstances. This is neither fair nor
acceptable. It is what we have fought to end, this "postcode lottery". The question is what do we do about it? What can you do about it? The
answer is that we want you to contact us with your views and concerns
on funding issues in your area. We need to know what they are, and you,
alongside I N UK and NIAC, and with our help, need to be prepared to do
something to redress the situation. Please tell us what problems there are in your area. Do you know if your PCT has put in place a structure for providing assisted conception by April 2005? If not we will tell you how to find out and can advise you on who to contact and what to ask. The
fight for equality is far from over and we must not be complacent. NICE
recommended 3 cycles, unless we work together and are vocal about this,
and unless we push to see the guideline implemented in full, we will
remain far short of it's recommendations. There still exists, a
system of treatment by postcode in the UK. People in Scotland can
access 3 cycles of treatment, why should couples inEngland and Wales be
any different? In Scotland (including ironically, the
constituency of John Reid, The Health Secretary) they have eligibility
criteria, which apply to everyone no matter which area they live in,
why can't this be put in place in England and Wales too? There
have been arguments from some areas that all is not perfect in Scotland
either, but at least patients are treated equally no matter where they
live. We deserve no less. It is you who, the patients who must
help us to fight this. We believe it is a fight we can and must win. We
must have equality throughout the UK. Contact us now to see how
you can help. It will take five minutes of your time, no more, it
doesn't mean shouting from the rooftops or going public about your
illness, but it could make a huge difference if you all help. You will
be the ones to benefit. Email us at
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if we can help you and/or you can help the campaign for NHS funding. Thank you
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