The HEALTH : Xtra October 2018 | Page 15

Xtra Penang Strong on Fertility Treatment Genesis IVF puts Preimplantation Genetic Screening (PGS) to the fore to reduce miscarriages Dr Ng Peng Wah. G Over time, the fertility centre has grown exponentially, and they have been serving Malaysian and Indonesian patients alike. The increasing success of Ng’s practice has attracted foreign patients as well as local ones to the hospital, with Indonesian patients being the most notable. MOVING INTO GENESIS Ng marked his long service at the hospital to an end recently, and went on to set up the Genesis IVF centre that he could do more with IVF treatments using advanced and modern technology such as PGS. It would seem that Ng took a big risk in setting up a completely new infertility treat- ment centre, yet Genesis IVF was actually able to retain most of his patients. Over time, the fertility centre has grown exponentially, and they have been serving Malaysian and Indonesian patients alike. DEDICATED PROFESSIONALS: (Front row, centre) Dr Ng Peng Wah with his Identifying abnormal embryos through PGS PREIMPLANTATION Genetic Screening (PGS) technology enables doctors to identify embryos that are abnormal, thus preventing implantation with abnormal chromosomes which may lead to conditions such as Down syndrome. Genesis IVF Fertility specialist Dr Ng Peng Wah highlighted the shortened time to pregnancy interval through PGS availabilities. “Without the availability of PGS, patients would have to go through multiple transfers which might prove to be very costly to patients especially from overseas.” “Furthermore, the screening method also helps to reduce repeated miscarriages. It was found that many patients have multiple miscarriages due to chromosomal abnormality.” “The chances of a miscarriage have since been reduced by over 50 per cent through the use of this method,” Ng said in addition to revealing that he is currently working on setting up Genesis IVF’s very own PGS lab. MAKING DREAMS COME TRUE In 2004, when the city of Aceh was struck by Tsunami, countless number of people lost their families. Ng mentioned that in 2006, a mother who lost three of her children to the disaster was able to achieve pregnancy through the IVF method despite being over the ideal age. team of dedicated professionals. 13 ENESIS IVF fertility specialist, Dr Ng Peng Wah had his first breakthrough in fertility treat- ment when he was able to achieve pregnancy in his patient through the in vitro fertilisation (IVF) method in 1995. Ever since then, his long stint in leading the fertility team in Lam Wah Ee Hospital’s IVF centre in Penang over the last 23 years had produced many clinical milestones. Recalling his work in Hospital Lam Wah Ee’s first IVF centre in Penang at the time, Ng said the task of setting up the centre was not an easy one. In 1997, Ng managed to achieve pregnancy through Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection (ICSI) method, which was only a couple years after the said method first resulted in pregnancy and safe delivery overseas. Fast forward to the year 2000, Lam Wah Ee’s IVF centre has managed to obtain their first ever frozen embryo to be implanted at a later date, a method used by women who are planning to conceive later on in life. WORLD CLASS: Genesis IVF assures patients to receive the best outcome with its well-equipped and state-of-the-art facilities. Ng described this moment as something fulfilling as he believes that through the fertility treatment, he was able to give her back what she had lost. FERTILITY TREATMENTS IN THE COMING YEARS Ng pointed out that in the near future, the roles of agencies who promotes medical tourism overseas would be even more important. Additionally, he also highlighted that with more research being done on stem cells, it might play a crucial role in the future progress of fertility treatments. Ng hopes to make fertility treatments at his centre more affordable and accessible in the future.