| British Fertility Society | |||
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News from the BFS Press Office |
In the press |
Watch out for... |
| Visit http://www.fertility.org.uk/press/email/media01.html for an online version |
| This is the first
issue of Media News from the BFS press office. As you know, Tom and
Jane at BioScientifica are working with the BFS to improve media relations,
set up a structure for communication with the press, and establish
the BFS as a publicly authoritative and professional voice in the
field of fertility and assisted conception.
Four times a year we will send out these email alerts rounding up the media activities and press coverage of the field in the past three months. This should keep you abreast with the current public perception of what you do, the level of interest directed to each aspect of the subject area, and inform you about what we’re doing for you. |
| NEWS FROM THE BFS PRESS OFFICE |
| National
IQ Test 2004 - calling clinicians! The successful BBC1 programme, Test the Nation - presented by Anne Robinson and Philip Schofield - will be back on Saturday 22 May 2004 with The National IQ Test 2004. The 240 strong studio audience will be split into six specialist groups of 40 people, by occupation, hobby or other characteristic, and will complete the multiple-choice test on hand held key pads. The programme is looking for MEDICAL DOCTORS. If you would like to take part, call Test the Nation on 020 7421 7834 or email helen.gordon-smith@talenttv.com for an application form. Closing date is 14 May. |
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| Get in
touch! One of our main functions is to try to prepare for forthcoming news stories, and for this we have to be proactive. As a simple example, by contacting NICE directly we were able to get the exact date of release of the NICE infertility guidance, which we were able to pass on to you. If you know of anything which you think will get into the press - good news or bad news - please let us know; this is the only way we can prepare for these events. In the same way, if you know of any people who may be willing to help publicise assisted conception (patients who might be particularly good with the press, or celebrities who might be willing to be associated with us), then please let us know. |
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Joint
ACE/BFS Meeting Tom spent one day at the conference, during which he took over 70 calls from journalists on this one story! If you attended you may also have noticed camera crews from both BBC and Sky News filming interviews for the lunchtime slots. The story was covered by all of the national newspapers and three months on, we continue to get calls about it! Take a look at the BBC online coverage for an idea of how the story ran: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/3362841.stm This, and all of our press releases, can be found on the BFS press office web page at: http://www.fertility.org.uk/press/ |
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| BFS Annual
Meeting The annual meeting was held in Cheltenham at the beginning of this month and we wrote and sent out four press releases on work to be presented there. Queen’s University in Belfast took most of the coverage, with their studies on the effects of Viagra, cannabis and vasectomy on sperm function. However, the study on seasonal changes in IVF success also attracted some interest. This time Jane had her work cut out on the phone, and saw three camera crews and a BBC radio crew in and out of the picturesque grounds at the Ladies’ College. |
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| National
Institute of Clinical Excellence As you all know, the finalised NICE guidelines on fertility treatment provision were launched in February. We distributed a press release on the BFS response and Jane attended the press conference at the RCOG in London. Unfortunately the coverage quickly changed in light of the Health Secretary’s statement on implementation. We had no prior information about this and it was therefore difficult to mount a structured response. Even so, the BFS did feature in much of the coverage, and Alison Murdoch even appeared on the debating sofa in the BBC Breakfast studio! |
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| Cloning In January, following the sensational coverage of the press conference held by Dr Panos Zavos regarding his latest attempt to clone a human, Alison Murdoch signed a letter to journalists urging them not to give too much credence to similar science mavericks. Alison was among 13 high profile professionals signing the letter, including the Chief Executive of the MRC and the President of the Royal Society. The letter was sent out by the Science Media Centre and requested editors to ‘reconsider the prominence given to repeated claims by certain scientists that they have cloned a human being’. Reasons given were the lack of peer review and validation of methods and results, the false hopes given to infertile couples for whom current treatments do not work, and the wrong impression given to the public that fertility experts are in a race to clone a human – when in fact the establishment is united in its opposition. |
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| Media
Training We had a fantastic response to the request for volunteers for media spokespeople. A small group of volunteers have been selected for media training, which will be taking place in London in May. Unfortunately we cannot train everyone that volunteered. However, this definitely does not mean we won’t be using the enthusiasm and expertise of all those that emailed as contacts for the ever-increasing volume of press calls that we are receiving. If you didn’t get round to volunteering before, but would be interested in answering press enquiries on your field of expertise, do please get in touch. Our contact details are at the bottom of this email. |
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| Website The Press Office now has its own internet page linked from the BFS website homepage. This provides journalists with information on what fields the BFS can comment on, and gives a direct telephone number where they can contact the press officers, Tom Parkhill and Jo Thurston. Members can also use it to keep up to date with one aspect of BFS media activity - just follow the link to the press release archive to see what has been sent out to journalists in the past. |
| IN THE PRESS |
| March 2004 |
| Viagra,
cannabis and vasectomy may affect fertility (BBC
online 31 March 2004) Researchers at Queen’s University Belfast have shown that human sperm function is affected by Viagra in vitro. The drug seems to increase motility but cause premature reaction of the acrosome – rendering the sperm infertile when it reaches the egg. Mouse studies have confirmed that fertilisation rates using sperm with Viagra were significantly reduced. Related groups at the University also presented work to the British Fertility Society Annual Meeting on the negative effects of cannabis and vasectomy on male fertility. |
|
IVF
may work better in summer (BBC
online 31 March 2004) |
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| Eggs
produced throughout life (Daily
Telegraph 11 March 2004) An article in Nature from the Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, shows that the mouse ovary contains stem cells that produce new eggs throughout its reproductive years. This challenges the dogma that female mammals are born with a limited supply of immature eggs. If these stem cells are found in human ovaries it raises the prospect of extending childbearing years and increasing available fertility treatments. |
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| Most
couples give up on IVF (The Times
5 March 2004) A Swedish survey finds that 54% of infertile couples who undergo a cycle of IVF, do not go to further treatment because of the emotional burden it causes. No exact statistics are available in the UK. |
| February 2004 |
| Website
launch (23 February 2004) A new website, to complement the well-reported Internet sperm ordering service ‘mannotincluded’ website has been launched. www.womannotincluded.com provides an anonymous Internet service for finding an egg donor. |
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| Mice
produce monkey sperm (BBC online
12 February 2004) An article in Biology of Reproduction reports that when testicular material from immature monkeys was transplanted under the skin of castrated mice, it generated viable sperm. It is hoped that this technology could mean that prepubescent boys made infertile through cancer treatment may one day father children. |
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| Smoking
and fertility (Press Association
11 February 2004) A report by the British Medical Association’s Board of Science and Tobacco Control Resource Centre details some shocking statistics about the impact of smoking on almost all aspects of sexual, reproductive and child health (http://www.bma.org.uk). |
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| Smoking
may hasten the female menopause (Daily
Mail 6 February 2004) Reproductive Biomedicine Online has published an Italian study finding that out of 350 women attending a menopause clinic between 1996 and 2001, those who smoked started menopause at around 47, compared with 49 and a half years in non-smokers. |
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| Mental
health fears over stored embryos (Daily
Mail 27 January 2004) In the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, scientists from the University of Pennsylvania report behaviour patterns of mice created through IVF treatment, either with stored embryos or those that developed naturally in the womb before being transferred to a foster mother. They suggest that storing fertilised embryos can provoke genetic alterations that may have mental or behavioural consequences. |
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| Cloning
attempt fails (BBC Online 4 February2004) Three weeks after Dr Panos Zavos’s press conference announcing the successful implantation of a cloned human embryo in a woman’s womb, it has been announced that the woman did not become pregnant. |
| January 2004 |
| Birth
problems of AC babies (Financial
Times 23 January 2004) Babies resulting from assisted conception procedures are much more likely to suffer problems at birth than those conceived naturally. Dutch researchers report in the BMJ that they consolidated results of 25 controlled studies between 1985 and 2002 and found that AC singletons are three times as likely to be born very prematurely, whilst the death rate is also higher. |
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| HFEA
propose equal rights to single women (Daily
Telegraph 22 January 2004) The HFEA, mirroring society’s changing views about parenthood and IVF, announced proposals to give single and lesbian women the same rights as heterosexual couples to fertility treatment. The outdated clause from the 1991 act calls on doctors to ‘take account of the need of a child for a father’. |
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| Gamete
donor anonymity removed (BBC online
21 January 2004) After a two-year consultation process, the HFEA announce that from April 2005 sperm and egg donors will lose their right to anonymity. The changes will not be retrospective. |
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| Controversial
case goes to Court of Appeal (BBC
online 16 January 2004) Natallie Evans has won the right to contest a High Court ruling from October 2003 on the use of embryos without her ex-partner’s consent. Lord Justice Thorpse said the case was of ‘very great interest’ to Ms Evans and had points of general public concern. |
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| Fall
in UK sperm counts (NewScientist.com
8 January 2004) Researchers have found that sperm concentrations among 7,500 men attending the Aberdeen Fertility Clinic between 1989 and 2002 fell from 87 million/ml to 62 million/ml. |
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| Moving
to cut multiple births (BBC online
7 January 2004) The HFEA has published guidelines aiming to cut the number of multiple births in assisted conception. Women under 40 are to have two, rather than three, embryos implanted in each treatment cycle. This reduces the chance of multiples without significantly affecting pregnancy rates. |
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| Smoking
when pregnant affects sons’ fertility (Daily
Mail 6 January 2004) A Danish study of 1,800 young males tested between 1996 and 1999 has found that boys of mothers who smoked during pregnancy have a 25% lower sperm count than boys of non-smokers. Their sperm was also less motile and they had smaller testes. The research is published in the American Journal of Epidemiology. |
| WATCH OUT FOR… |
| April
x-change Does complimentary medicine actually work or is it all psychological? Should the NHS pay for unlimited IVF cycles? In what ways can technology help to combat terrorism? 18.30-20.00 Tuesday 27 April 2004, Dana Centre, 165 Queen’s Gate London SW7 Speakers confirmed: Suzi Leather (HFEA), Clive Cookson (Financial Times) To book your place call 020 7019 4940 |
|
Evening
debate in Bristol |
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| National
Infertility Day 2004 ‘A place to start’ 12 June 2004, New Connaught Rooms, London, UK For enquiries about registration and programme, call Debbie Walker on 01274 854138 or email: nid@world-events.com |
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| ESHRE
2004 27-30 June 2004, Berlin, Germany Contact: ESHRE Central Office Meerstraat 60 B-1852 Grimbergen-Beigem Belgium Tel: +32 (0)2 269 09 69 Fax +32 (0)2 269 56 00 E-mail: info@eshre.com Web-site: http://www.eshre.com |
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