AN opposition lawmaker today suggested Putrajaya grant tax exemptions to people who need fertility treatment like in vitro fertilisation (IVF) and intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI).

Ismail Mohamed Said (Kuala Krau-BN) asked Health Minister Dzulkefly Ahmad if he could make the proposal to the Finance Ministry.

“Will the Health Ministry propose to the Finance Ministry to give tax exemption to couples and companies with employees who require this treatment?” he said during question time in the Dewan Rakyat this morning.

He was taking a supplementary question on the subject, after Wong Kah Woh (Ipoh Timur-PH) asked what incentives or assistance the government could offer couples facing fertility issues.

Dzulkefly praised Ismail’s idea, saying he could take it up with the Finance Ministry.

Earlier, he said a cycle of IVF and ICSI treatment cost from RM4,500 to RM5,000, exclusive of medicines subsidised by the government.

Dzulkefly added that 856 couples sought IVF and ICSI treatments at government hospitals in 2016, 1,039 in 2017, and 976 in 2018.

The success rate of the treatments, he said, was an average 19% to 28%.

“In 2016, couples who became pregnant through IVF or ICSI were 197, 207 in 2017, and 189 last year.”

Dzulkefly said successful pregnancies also depended on the age, health and fertility of the women hoping for babies and sperm quality. – April 9, 2019.