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CUHK IVF Centre at PWH Granted First ISO 9001:2000 Certification
The In-Vitro Fertilization (IVF) Unit, also known as the Assisted Reproductive Technology Unit of The Chinese University of Hong Kong at the Prince of Wales Hospital, was established as a joint project between the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, CUHK and the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, the Prince of Wales Hospital, in 1984. It maintains strong research as well as clinical interests. Apart from its role in research, the Unit continues to offer related treatments in the field of reproductive medicine. This Unit was recently awarded ISO 9001:2000 certification, and is the first standalone Assisted Reproductive Technology / IVF Unit in Hong Kong or China to have been so certified. The certification included both clinical and laboratory areas and involved medical, laboratory and nursing personnel. The certification is issued after external inspection which ensures that a rigorous system of management is in place. The Quality Management System that the unit has provided the framework for the provision of consistent high quality personalised care. All aspects of the unit¡¦s service are described in the procedure manuals, ensuring that the treatment cycles and services provided are predictable and repeatable, as well as well-documented. Regular internal and external are also conducted to make sure the unit maintains continual improvement, which is required for ongoing ISO 9001:2000 certification. The preparation for ISO certification was a team effort with all members contributing to the process. The preparation provided a great opportunity for team building and further boosted morale. Such certification has become mandatory in some overseas countries, but at present it is not essential for ART units in Asia to have such certification. In some countries certification is essential for the units to be licensed to offer ART services. If this trend reaches Asia, the unit will already be prepared. Delayed Childbearing in Hong Kong We are currently facing an increasing challenge in the provision of infertility treatment as a result of women delaying their childbearing. A recent report ¡§Putting your biological clock on hold¡¨ published in the Los Angeles Times (18 July 2005) highlighted the fact that women in the USA are now becoming increasingly more interested in delaying their fertility and are turning to various technologies to help them do this. One of the readily available options in the USA is for women to find a fertility treatment centre that will harvest and freeze their eggs while they are still young, so that these eggs can be used later in life when they wish to start a family. However, to retrieve and store these eggs is expensive and not without risk, and to date this procedure has not been proven to provide a consistently acceptable pregnancy chance for those women who choose to do it. Our Unit has recently investigated the current situation in Hong Kong regarding delayed childbearing. This involved examination of the details of more than 20,000 deliveries at the Prince of Wales Hospital over the last 10 years. The main focus was on women who were had their first child at the hospital during this time. It was found that women in Hong Kong are also more often having their first baby at a more advanced age: There are a number of proposed reasons why women may want to delay their fertility ¡V the most common reason being that women are reluctant to leave their increasingly more important place in the workforce. However, by delaying their childbearing, couples who eventually turn out to be infertile find this out when the female partner is at a later age than in previous years. For those who then need Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) treatment such as In-Vitro Fertilization (IVF), they receive treatment when they are older. This is also a disadvantage. We examined the age distribution of women having IVF treatment in our Unit and found that an increasing number of women are receiving these treatments at a more advanced age. But with advancing age, the success rates are lower: However, women who want to delay their childbearing should not necessarily rely on reproductive technology to help them if they have trouble conceiving naturally. Although pregnancy rates for infertility treatments continue to improve, as women get older, the success rates decline. In particular, women should not assume that newer interventions such as egg freezing can provide them with a reliable means of delaying their fertility. This technology has not yet been shown to have a reliable or stable success rate. Moreover, women in Hong Kong should also be aware that under legislation that is currently coming into effect, technologies such as IVF (which includes embryo and egg freezing) are restricted to married couples.
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