KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 1 — The fertility and pregnancy treatment services by the National Population and Family Development Board (LPPKN) continue to show encouraging results, said Women, Family, and Community Development Minister Datuk Seri Nancy Shukri.
Its fertility clinic has recorded a 21 per cent pregnancy rate, with 6,249 individuals successfully becoming pregnant out of the 29,163 individuals who underwent subfertility treatment from 1979 to October this year.
She said LPPKN's fertility treatment success rate is comparable to international standards, as issued by the United States' Fertility Registry, while also adhering to Islamic law principles by ensuring lineage is preserved without using donor sperm banks.
"For this year, 200 pregnancies have been recorded. Each year, LPPKN receives up to 9,000 new and repeat cases. In total, 42,941 new cases and 271,501 repeat cases have been recorded from 1979 to October 2024.
"These efforts have helped many couples have children, with some even successfully having quadruplets in a single pregnancy through treatment at LPPKN," Nancy said.
She was speaking to the press after attending the LPPKN 2024's Jalinan Kasih event and the opening of the LPPKN Full Paying Patient (FPP) Fertility Clinic in the city today.
The event, which was also attended by LPPKN chairman Datuk Seri Rohani Abdul Karim and LPPKN director-general Abdul Shukur Abdullah, aims to celebrate families and children born as a result of fertility treatments provided by the board.
Nancy said the treatments offered at the LPPKN fertility clinic include timed intercourse, intrauterine insemination, gamete intra-fallopian transfer, in-vitro fertilisation, and intracytoplasmic sperm injection.
She added that the treatment costs are affordable, ranging from RM1,000 to RM15,000 depending on the method, and LPPKN also provided an IUI Subsidy Assistance Programme from 2020 to 2023 for couples who had never been pregnant and met the eligibility criteria.
"Additionally, contributors to the Employees Provident Fund can also withdraw from their Account 2 savings to fund fertility treatments.
"Besides treatment, advocacy is also important, especially for men, as they can also contribute to infertility due to health factors. Both partners need to play a role," Nancy said.
Commenting on the FPP clinic, the minister said that the FPP service is equipped with added value, including specialist doctors and the latest technology, specifically for couples with time constraints who cannot access treatment at existing facilities.
At the LPPKN FPP Fertility Clinic, clients can choose their preferred specialist and schedule appointments that suit the couple's work commitments to undergo subfertility services.
— Bernama
