The government is to launch a subsidy program on Sept. 1 for young people with breast or blood cancer to undergo fertility preservation treatments, the Health Promotion Administration (HPA) said yesterday.
Taiwanese diagnosed with stage 0 to 3 breast cancer or blood cancers such as leukemia, lymphoma or multiple myeloma, aged 18 to 40, and whose fertility is deemed to be impaired by cancer therapy, are eligible, the HPA said.
Female applicants could receive up to NT$70,000 for egg freezing, while males could receive up to NT$8,000 for sperm freezing.
Photo: Chiu Chih-jou, Taipei Times
People can apply twice at most in their lifetime, it added.
The pilot program is expected to benefit 600 people in the first year, it said.
Thirty-five certified assisted reproduction centers nationwide are to take part in the program, HPA official Lin Yu-hsuan (林宇旋) said.
Applicants must be evaluated and get a referral from a hospital regarding a potential procedure for fertility preservation, Lin said.
They should consult a doctor about the potential effects and risks of the procedure, and if there is an urgent need for it before making a decision, she said.
They can apply for the subsidy after undergoing a fertility preservation procedure, she said.
Applicants should start the cancer treatment soon after undergoing the fertility preservation procedure, she said.
The new policy would alleviate the financial burden of people with cancer who face difficult choices regarding having children, Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Lin Ching-yi (林靜儀) said, adding that there is a trend of cancer affecting people at younger ages.
The program would build a local model of fertility preservation, she said, adding that the government would consider expanding the coverage to other diseases depending on demand.
The government is to review the program in six months and consult experts to determine whether to broaden its scope, HPA Director-General Shen Ching-fen (沈靜芬) said.
The plan would help increase the chances for women who undergo treatment for breast cancer to have children, Taiwan Breast Cancer Society president Chen Fang-ming (陳芳銘) said.
Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women in Taiwan, with 2,000 of the 20,000 new cases each year occurring in women under 40, Chen said.
Only 10 percent of them can give birth after undergoing cancer treatment, he said.
Egg freezing is the most effective way to preserve fertility, he said, adding that it can increase the childbirth rate to 40 percent.
However, the cost makes many people hesitate, Chen said.
People often give up because of economic pressure or not knowing that egg retrieval can be completed in two weeks, Hematology Society of Taiwan secretary-general Huang Tai-chung (黃泰中) said.
The median age of people with lymphoma is just 30, Huang said.
Many people do not have children when they are diagnosed with cancer, as there is a trend of late marriage and lower ages of cancer diagnoses, Taiwanese Society for Reproductive Medicine secretary-general Huang Chu-jun (黃楚珺) said.
Tsao Chih-wei (曹智惟), deputy secretary-general of the Taiwan Urological Association, called for the subsidy program to cover people with testicular cancer.
They should have their sperm collected before starting cancer treatment, as they tend to have impaired reproductivity, despite the high success rate of treatment, Tsao said.
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