JB FERTILITY CENTRE DRAWS SINGAPOREAN COUPLES

"Oh yeah? Well, how can you prove that we're not in a test tube?"

The full article is here. In a nutshell, a Malaysian fertility centre has been achieving one of the world's best IVF success rates and is now marketing itself to Singaporeans.

The Malaysian centre has a success rate of about 65 per cent, going by the number of babies born. In contrast, the success rate of IVF centres in Singapore, going by Health Ministry figures, ranges between 16 per cent and 28 per cent. That is to say, the Malaysian centre is more than twice as good.

Furthermore, the Malaysian centre is also cheaper. In Singapore, IVF costs about S$6,000 to S$13,000. At the Malaysian centre, it costs between RM12,000 (S$5,280) and RM16,000 (S$7,050).

It seems that the only drawback for Singaporeans is that they cannot use Medisave funds to pay for treatment at the Malaysian centre. In contrast, Singaporeans can withdraw $6,000 for their first IVF attempt in Singapore, and $5,000 and $4,000 for their next two.

I find this article quite disturbing, especially in light of earlier media reports of Singaporeans going to Thailand for laser eye surgery. It seems to me that our neighbouring countries are starting to offer better medical services and yet are charging lower expenses.

If this goes on, then for the sake of Singaporeans' financial and physical health, the government should look into allowing Singaporeans to use Medisave to pay for their medical treatment overseas. Why not? The foreign hospitals are cheaper and better and the Medisave money is OUR own money anyway.