IVF treatment at Mater Dei Hospital is to start this month with a plan to have a session every two months. This will mean 150 to 200 couples being treated by the end of 2015.

With demand currently standing at some 330 applying couples, the service will have been offered to all applicants within two years.

Answering parliamentary and supplementary questions by former health minister Godfrey Farrugia and government MP Anthony Agius Decelis, Parliamentary Secretary for Health Chris Fearne yesterday said 30 couples had already started the simulation process for the first cycles to get under way later this month.

Applicants are selected for treatment by an ad hoc committee which examines their criteria of eligibility.

Dr Fearne acknowledged that IVF treatment had effectively been put on the road by Dr Farrugia during his tenure as minister. The progress had only been possible through the government’s investment, staff efforts and intensive training undergone by all involved.

Mater Dei’s IVF licence, issued by the health authorities, was valid for two years, Dr Fearne told Opposition MP Claudio Grech.