IVF Units in our country gave a very warm welcome to the reactivation of the National Authority of Medically Assisted Reproduction. It is time for the important Greek achievements concerning the IVF to be displayed in the scientific community all over the world.

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Athens, 4 November 2014

The first meeting of National Authority of Medically Assisted Reproduction with representatives of in Vitro Fertilization Units (IVFUs) and Cryopreservation Banks (CBs) from all over the country was organized in the 2nd of November 2014. The participation was rather impressive. More than 120 gynecologists, embryologists, geneticists and lawyers that work in the field of IVF in the 67 IVFUs that function in Greece, responded to the authority’s invitation.

The aim of the meeting was the acquaintance of the representatives of IVFUs with the members of National Authority of Medically Assisted Reproduction, the discussion as well as the recording of the problems they are facing and the definition of the priorities in the planning of national policy for the Medical Reproduction.

This meeting was the first since the National Authority of Medically Assisted Reproduction started operating fully only in March 2014. All this was commented rather positively by the representatives of IVFUs who were satisfied and presented rather great expectations on the refunctioning of the Authority. The absence of this organisation for many years lead to the accumulation of many legal and administrative problems and also to the absence of our country from international fora  despite the exquisite results of Greek clinics.

The first concern of IVFUs was their immediate and official licensing and the national recording and publishing of data and outcome of all Units. The members of the authority having as an immediate priority the monitoring and the licensing of the IVFUs were committed to consider their suggestions  in view of the imminent publication of the PD that is to define the Terms and Conditions for the functioning of IVF Units. With the aid of the highly expected PD the Authority aims to ensure first of all that infertile couples seeking services of Medically Assisted Reproduction will get high quality services. It also aims to offer IVF Units  the chance to improve their services and to be legally patented.

Amongst other issues mentioned was the urgent need for the immediate syntax of the Expert Code of Conduct for the Medically Assisted Reproduction and the creation of a single base for the recording of male and female donors of sperm and ova respectively. A very important issue was the establishment of common forms of information and consent for the couples under treatment as well as the cooperation with social security funds aiming to facilitate the accessibility of citizens to the services of Medically Assisted Reproduction.

The President of National Authority of Medically Assisted Reproduction Prof. Aristides Antsaklis mentioned that: Once more it was confirmed even by the IVF Units the absolute need for the correct function of the Authority. Its role is neither repressive nor competitive to the Units that help couples from all over the world. Its main aim is to strengthen the excellent work of IVF Units always complying with the European legal frame and also to promote all this hard effort to the international scientific fora from which our country was absent for decades.

The meeting for symbolic reasons took place in the amphitheater of Alexandra Hospital which has been the “birthplace” for the promotion of science and research on obstetrics and gynecology. The Hellenic Company of Doctors for Assisted Reproduction payed a very important contribution to the success of the whole meeting.