Promoting assisted reproduction service projects and improving the level of assisted reproduction have become an important issue of social concern.
Recently, the reporter visited China's exploration and practice in assisted reproduction, and found that with the significant improvement of technology, assisted reproduction is becoming an important way to solve fertility problems.
Give birth to family "life" machine
Population is the basic, overall, long-term and strategic element of national development. Population will have a comprehensive, long-term and profound impact on the economic and social system. In recent years, the state has issued many policies to encourage fertility, but some people still have the problem of "not being able to give birth, not being able to give birth well", and assisted reproductive medical services have become a new choice for these people.
Assisted reproductive technology is an important method to treat infertility. It refers to the technology that uses medical aids to help infertile couples get pregnant, including artificial insemination, gamete transfer, in vitro fertilization, embryo transfer and test tube baby technology.
According to research reports of securities companies, the main treatment methods for infertility include conventional drug treatment, surgical treatment and assisted reproductive technology treatment. Assisted reproduction is the ultimate treatment for infertility when natural pregnancy cannot be achieved with conventional medicine and surgical treatment.
Ashu (a pseudonym), an elderly lying in woman, has been married to her husband for many years. They have been busy working and have no time to think about childbearing. When she suddenly found that she was getting closer to the label of "elderly puerpera", she began to prepare for pregnancy carefully, but after more than a year of hard work, nothing happened. After learning about the accompanying diagnosis and assisted reproduction business of New Bowen through partners, Ashu successfully gave birth to a 6-kg baby after years of long pregnancy preparation.
In recent years, the industry has always been discussing assisted reproduction: on the one hand, the overall decline in national fertility is increasingly significant. According to data, the incidence of infertility in China has risen from 12% in 2007 to 18% in 2020, and more than 33 million couples across the country are facing the problem of infertility; On the other hand, related tumor diseases are showing a trend of youth, leading to more and more people losing their fertility. According to statistics, more than 40000 new cancer patients in children and adolescents will be found every year from 2018 to 2020. At the same time, the number of new tumors in women of childbearing age accounts for 12% of the total number, of which more than 70% of young patients have the desire to have children.
In addition, data shows that nearly 3% of babies in China have been born through assisted reproductive technology. With the increase of infertility rate, the support of national fertility policy, and the promotion of assisted reproductive technology, the assisted reproductive industry has gradually developed in recent years.
Technical iteration and upgrading
The first test tube baby in the world was born in the UK in 1978, and the first test tube baby in mainland China was born in Peking University Third Hospital in 1988. At present, there are about 12 million test tube babies in the world, and about 300000 test tube babies are born in China every year.
With the continuous improvement of the technology in the assisted reproduction industry, more and more infertile patients, groups with serious genetic diseases, serious physical diseases, mental and psychological disorders and not suitable for childbearing have achieved normal fertility.
Zhang Yanlei, the head of New Baoen Medical, said that the development of assisted reproductive technology in China is very rapid and has been in line with international standards. The domestic assisted reproductive technology is equivalent to the foreign advanced level, and the clinical pregnancy rate, live birth rate and other indicators have reached a high level. In terms of assisted reproduction related drugs, reagents, equipment, etc., the degree of localization is also gradually improving. Years of clinical practice has proved that assisted reproductive technology is mature, and it is no different from natural pregnancy in terms of maternal safety and the incidence of birth defects.
Zhang Yanlei said that at present, domestic leading companies have completed overseas layout and formed a global medical network. Taking Xinbaoen as an example, the team has been deeply involved in the assisted reproduction industry for more than 10 years. In addition to having a large number of medical resources in top three hospitals in China, it has also reached strategic cooperation with many hospitals at home and abroad. It can conduct all-weather consultation online and offline with professional medical technology teams in Europe and the United States, and with trial tube baby experts with rich clinical experience. Up to now, Simbond has helped more than 500 families obtain their own babies.
It is reported that in order to reduce the psychological and economic pressure of the family, New Baoen has specially established the "Sansheng Pregnancy" brand, which is responsible for the full cycle health management service of IVF, and has jointly established the first enterprise standard of IVF full cycle health management service in assisted reproduction industry in China with the China Association of Eugenics and Eugenics, And jointly launched infant insurance business with Sunshine Insurance.
While the technology of assisted reproduction industry continues to improve, the value of professional institutions has begun to highlight, and has gradually been recognized by the market.
"While improving assisted reproductive technology, domestic leading medical assisted reproductive enterprises are also actively deploying overseas, learning from the technology and experience of overseas medical industry, realizing internal and external linkage, and complementing and learning from each other in technology," said Gao Han, the head of Sansheng Pregnancy.
In order to enable assisted reproductive technology to better serve the groups in need, Zhang Ke, director of the National Health Insurance Bureau, said during a survey in Beijing Maternity Hospital, Peking University People's Hospital, and Beijing Children's Hospital some time ago that the National Health Insurance Bureau will continue to guide relevant provinces to further improve the establishment of assisted reproductive medical services and the management of medical insurance payments, and strengthen departmental collaboration, We will promote the integration of basic medical insurance, maternity insurance and related economic and social policies to jointly promote long-term balanced population development.
Solving social problems
In recent years, assisted reproductive medical programs have been included in medical insurance payment in many places, which has greatly reduced the cost of childbirth and eased the economic burden of related families.
In 2023, Beijing and Guangxi will take the lead in incorporating assisted reproductive technology into medical insurance. In March this year, Shandong Medical Insurance Bureau issued a notice that, from April 1, it standardized and integrated the current price items of assisted reproductive medical services in Shandong Province, and newly incorporated some items into medical insurance payment. The medical insurance departments of Jiangsu, Shenzhen and other provinces and cities also put forward that they are studying or actively promoting the introduction of relevant policies and measures when responding to people's livelihood demands.
According to the data released by the National Health Commission and the China Population Association, the market penetration rate of assisted reproduction in China will be 8.2% in 2021, and the penetration rate of assisted reproduction in the United States will be 32% in 2021. There is huge room for development in the field of assisted reproduction in China. With the formal implementation of assisted reproductive technology treatment services into medical insurance, the penetration rate of domestic assisted reproductive market is expected to further increase.
According to experts, the infertility rate caused by lifestyle changes and environmental factors has increased. At present, as the new main body of marriage and childbearing, the majority of post-90s and post-00s are growing up and working in cities and towns, with longer education years, greater pressure of employment competition, and widespread postponement of marriage and childbearing. According to the data from the Reproductive Medicine Center of the Affiliated Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital of Zhejiang University School of Medicine, the average age of patients in 2022 was 33.4 years, 1.5 years more than that in 2019; The number of patients over 40 years old increased by about 48%.
Driven by multiple favorable factors such as policy support, rising demand and increasing public awareness, assisted reproduction has become a rising industry. According to the report, the market size of assisted reproduction in China will be 43.4 billion yuan in 2020, and is expected to reach 85.4 billion yuan by 2025. Today, China's assisted reproductive industry will usher in a larger market expansion, and the market size of assisted reproductive industry will continue to rise.
