KOTA KINABALU: Couples struggling with infertility can now look forward to the possibility of parenthood.
Thanks to in-vitro fertilisation (IVF), which has brought hope to many facing reproductive challenges.
This follows the launch of SabahCare Fertility and Specialist Centre, officiated by Industrial Development and Entrepreneurship Minister Datuk Phoong Jin Zhe.
Also present were Kapayan Assemblywoman Jannie Lasimbang, the centre’s Chief Executive Officer Dr John Teo Beng, and Medical Director Dr Mohammad Hatta.
The new centre offers a state-of-the-art IVF laboratory, operating theatres, outpatient clinics, and day care facilities.
It is also recognised as a stand-alone multidisciplinary Ambulatory Care Centre (ACC), providing comprehensive diagnostic services.
“The centre is heralded as a ‘saviour for the man’, since unlike conventional IVF where thousands of sperm are needed to achieve fertilisation of the egg, we also provide ICSI (Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection), an advanced technology where a single sperm is directly injected into an egg to achieve fertilisation,” said its Clinical Director, Dr Cheong Yee Tsing.
She said they had established the first public IVF centre in Sabah and East Malaysia at the Sabah Women and Children Hospital in 2010, before founding the first private IVF centre in Sabah in 2018.
This effort complements the Health Ministry’s mission to assist more couples in need.
Over the years, she said they have served couples not only within Sabah but also from Sarawak, Brunei, Indonesia, Singapore, China, Hong Kong, and Australia.
“Since 2018, SabahCare has helped bring more than 500 babies into the world,” she said.
They have also successfully treated many couples with a serious condition known as Azoospermia (where no sperm is found in the semen), she added.
In addition to IVF and ICSI, they also offer PGT (Preimplantation Genetic Testing) to help prevent the birth of children with genetic disorders such as Down’s syndrome and thalassaemia. – Wu Vuide
