by Rory Watson
Date: 24 November 2009
Source: BMJ 2009;339:b5016
The European Commission's plan to insist that reproductive cells being processed or stored for treatments such as in vitro fertilisation (IVF) should be tested for HIV, hepatitis B and hepatitis C to avoid possible cross-contamination is being strongly resisted by national governments and the medical profession. The European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology maintains that screening both partners before each treatment is unnecessary and could lead to extra costs in Europe of over £130 million annually. Faced with opposition, the Commission asked European Union member states to provide evidence that testing at the time of donation would not offer additional safety measures against potential cross-contamination. But opponents say it is difficult to document something that has never happened. Soren Ziebe, from Copenhagen University Hospital's fertility clinic, maintains that in the whole history of assisted reproduction technology there has been "no single documented report of viral transmission." Currently national legislation on non-partner donation varies across Europe. In Denmark viral screening for diseases is valid for two years and in France for one year.
