Debated in Parliament on 4 Jul 2017.
Mr Louis Ng Kok Kwang asked the Minister for Health for each year in the past three years what is the Assisted Reproductive Technology success rate for public and private centres respectively for couples (i) under 30 years old; (ii) between 30 years old and 35 years old; (iii) between 36 years old and 40 years old; and (iv) above 40 years old.
The success rates for Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) decline with increasing age and, in fact, drops precipitously after the maternal age of 35. For public centres, success rates are 29.5% for women below 30, 27.1% for women from 30 to 35, 16.1% for women from 36 to 40, and 6.1% for women above 40. A similar trend is observed in the private centres, where the success rates stand at 26.7% for women below 30, 24.6% for women from 30 to 35, 17.3% for women from 36 to 40, and 6.7% for women above 40.
Our clinical data also shows that, overall, from 2013 to 2015, the average ART success rates are 21.3% at the public centres and 19% at the private centres.
Thank you, Madam. I thank the Senior Minister of State for the reply. Can I check with the Senior Minister of State if MOH is going to review the subsidies for ART treatments?
The ART co-funding was enhanced in 2013, along with the MediSave withdrawal for ACP that was also enhanced in 2013. We have been monitoring the average bill sizes and we will review if the average bill sizes rise such that it significantly affects affordability.
Sorry, Madam. Just one more question. Not just the subsidies, but also, is it possible to increase the number of cycles, at least for those between 36 and 40? I note the success rate does drop but I think the trend is that people are having children much later now.
I think when we review the age at which we capped the ART co-funding, really it is based on evidence. As shown from statistics, the success rates drop drastically after age 35; for women above 40, it is at about 6%. Therefore, we will continue to see what the success rates are before we consider whether we can extend. But at this point in time, there is no decision to extend this age limit.
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