The State Comptroller published to the public today (19.11.24) a special report on in vitro fertilization in Israel
State Comptroller Matanyahu Englman: "The State of Israel ranks first in the world in fertility treatments. The report indicates the lack of organization on the national level for the considerable increase in the scope of in vitro fertilization treatments in Israel, in addition to the defects and gaps that arose under the inspections of the Ministry of Health in the in vitro fertilization units about three years before the occurrence of the exceptional event in September 2022 and the lack of any follow-up on the rectification of the defects. The defects fall within the definition of a fundamental failure. The Ministry of Health is obliged to rectify the defects in order to ensure that critical mistakes do not occur again".
In Vitro Fertilization in Israel – Regulation and Supervision Aspects
State Comptroller Matanyahu Englman determines that it is necessary to reinforce the Ministry of Health's supervision and control mechanisms in the field of in vitro fertilization. As part of this, the Ministry of Health must complete without any further delay the determination of procedures for the operation of the in vitro fertilization units; ascertain that the units are rectifying the defects that he raises in his audits; and ascertain that he is presented with all the reports about special events that have occurred in this field.
Alongside all these, it was raised that the national database is incomplete and unreliable, and that the ability to achieve all the objectives that formed the basis of its establishment – including the promotion of the safety and quality of treatment and the possibility of making decisions and determining policy on the basis thereof – is lacking and restricted. The improvement of the databases will assist the Ministry of Health in determining a policy in this field in general and in evaluating the existing policy in particular.
The Ministry of Health is under the obligation to ascertain that the scope of treatments in every single unit conforms to the manpower and the infrastructures there, so that it provides a fitting response for the quality and safety of the treatment in this sensitive field.
