HFEA retained as expert regulator
25 January 2013
The Department of Health has announced today that the HFEA will be retained as an independent regulator. This news follows a consultation which took place last year.
The announcement means that the HFEA will continue to regulate assisted reproduction and research on human embryos in the UK.
The Department of Health has commissioned an independent review of the way in which the HFEA and the HTA undertake their functions and operations, to see whether they can be carried out more efficiently. The review will report to the Government by April 2013.
Professor Lisa Jardine, Chair of the HFEA, said:
“I am delighted that the Government has decided that the HFEA’s dedicated expert regulation of IVF and embryo research will continue. I have always believed that the interests of the fertility patient, who of course matters most, are best served by having a specialist regulator.
We already work closely with the HTA and I welcome this review as an opportunity to identify where we can strengthen and streamline those arrangements still further.”
Ends
Notes to editors
The HFEA is the independent regulator for IVF treatment and embryo research. Our role is to protect patients and the public interest, to drive improvement in the treatment and research sectors and to provide information to the public and policymakers about treatment and research.
The HFEA was set up in August 1991 as part of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990. The HFEA’s principal tasks are to license and monitor clinics that carry out in vitro fertilisation (IVF), artificial insemination (AI) and human embryo research. The HFEA also regulates the storage of gametes (eggs and sperm) and embryos. Contact the press office
HFEA Press Office
Tel: 020 7291 8226
Email: :press.office@hfea.gov.uk
Out of hours urgent press contact: 07771 981 920 (for media enquiries only)
Page last updated: 25 January 2013