The improved CAPA-IVM approach has the potential to reduce the burden and the subsequent cycle abandonment and the large budget of social security for infertility treatments in PCOS women. This shorter and less invasive technique could increase access to treatment to more couples from lower socio-economic regions in Europe. It could also be applied as a fertility preservation strategy in girls and women receiving gonadotoxic cancer treatment. Conventional IVF demands a strict and intense regime of medication use, constant monitoring of hormone levels and ovarian ultrasounds. This process can very quickly become mentally and physically taxing for women, as well as for their partners and social environment. In comparison, the IVM technique does not require anymore the injection of high doses of hormones to patients; hence the patient-friendliness of IVM approach would reduce the burden and the subsequent cycle abandonment. In addition, IVF financing is expensive for governments and patients. The average cost of an IVF cycle in Europe is 4000-7000€ and, in general, patients may need to undergo several cycles of treatment which multiplies the overall cost. There is some (partial) state funding/reimbursement for IVF in part of the EU member states. However, the extent of this support varies from around 90% in Belgium or France, to 20-30% in Bulgaria and Spain. Thanks to the proposed improved CAPA-IVM approach for PCOS patients, the large budget of social security for infertility treatments could be reduced and the access to treatment could be increased. The results of this project will have beneficial implications for public health policies in Europe with respect to quality, safety, regulation and financial control of treatments with IVF. Policy making agencies and health care system will use these results towards the implementation of new strategies on reproductive medicine.
