1 in 6 couples in Italy faces obstacles due to infertility but only 10% are able to contact the PMA A digital platform is created that introduces a model of prevention and continuity of care
The birth rate situation in Italy has never been as alarming as it is now (1.24 children per woman), caused by various socio-economic dynamics that are difficult to contain. When couples who choose to undertake a path of parenting, encounter fertility problems, access to reproductive health paths is not easy at all. According to data from the PMA Registry of the Higher Institute of Health, about 15% of couples in Italy (about 1 in 6) experience fertility problems and only a fraction of the people involved are able to access treatment promptly. In fact, in Italy, PMA treatments are provided in significantly fewer numbers than in other European countries every year. We are talking about 110,000 treatments for PMA (1,860 treatments per million inhabitants) compared to about 3,000 treatments in Denmark up to 4,500 treatments in Japan.
Fertility and prevention: the changing perspective
As Talea Clinic explains, “it's not a question of demand but a problem of access.” From the lack of real awareness of reproductive health, to the fragmentation of the medical offer to a management that still works as a “contingency” medicine and not of prevention: the obstacles we face are many and prevent us from considering PMA as a possible and immediate solution. Very often those who go to a specialist do so only after finding the problem, at an age between 37-42 years when the chances of successful treatments are already lower and the costs are higher, completely skipping any specific phase of prevention.
What is Talea Clinic and how does it want to change access to PMA care
This is where the Talea Clinic project starts, a portal designed to reduce these critical issues and induce young people on a prevention path. We are talking about an Italian virtual clinic that “supports women, men and couples who face a path of fertility and family building, connecting patients, doctors and clinics through a digital platform designed to accompany people in the different phases of the journey.” Edoardo Franzoni, CEO and Co-founder, explains that “Fertility should not be addressed as a problem to be managed in an emergency or with a sense of loneliness, but as a fundamental pillar of general health and freedom of personal planning.” The platform follows the patient at 360 degrees, from prevention to treatment, through fertility assessment, social freezing and PMA. “We thought of Talea to simplify a process that today may require putting together a lot of information and different interlocutors. Technology does not want to replace the relationship with the doctor, but to create a simpler and more continuous connection between the person and all the professionals who accompany them”: finally concluded Federico Regoli, also co-founder of Talea, explaining the true nature of the initiative