FERRING PHARMA BRINGS HOPE TO FILIPINO COUPLES

As opportunities arise in their careers, more and more Filipino women are waiting longer to have children. Due to this trend in the delay of pregnancy until an older age, up to a quarter of all couples may experience problems in conceiving a child.

The World Health Organization estimates that there are about 60 to 80 million casesof infertility around the world.In the past, Filipino couples who wanted to seek medical help in conceiving a child had no choice but to go overseas to get treatment.

But with the establishment of Ferring Pharmaceuticals office in the country, more couples can finally get access toa treatment that can fulfill their dreams of having a complete family.

Treatment of infertility is one of Ferring’s key areas of expertise and it is committed to progress in the field of Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART).

Jane Villablanca, General Manager of Ferring PH believes that Filipinos considering In Vitro Fertilization treatment lack awareness on where to go and seek a proper consultation. “One of the challenges for Ferring PH is that we have to sell the concept first.

To talk about the science and bring US and European speakers to educate the doctors so that they too can properly educate their patients about the treatment.”“With the better economy more Filipinos will be able to afford these treatments and they don’t have to go to countries like Singapore, Hongkong, Taiwan or even Vietnam to for their IVF procedures.”

Villablanca, however, advised couples to seek the treatment early; “You have to remember that the older you get the more medicines and treatments you’d need and the chances are greater if you undergo the procedures while you are still young.”

Besides the better economy, the entry of Ferring is also timely with the prioritizationof the government of the Universal Health Care and the increased health care financing as well as the passage of the reproductive health law as the company alsospecializes on other obstetrics products that seek to reduce the maternal mortality rate.

Research before profit

Established against the backdrop of the Second World War, Ferring Pharma distinguishes itself from the rest by putting research ahead of profit. Scientific researcher Frederik Paulsen, fled from Germany to Sweden, to establish Nordiska Hormon Laboratoriet in 1950. The company would later be known as Ferring with DrPaulsen and wife Eva becoming the first scientists to synthesize peptides by producing adrenocorticotrophin hormone (ACTH), or stress hormone.