One of the world's top fertility specialists criticised Essex healthcare trusts for not funding IVF treatment.
During the annual Colchester Lecture last night, Prof Robert Winston - currently on BBC1 fronting Walking with Cavemen - told more than 400 people that the Government had to ensure IVF was available on the NHS everywhere in the UK and not leave the decision to individual trusts.
Prof Robert Winston
He said: "Women are penalised by biology and they are now being penalised by the NHS and the Government.
"IVF is not offered in Essex - and it should be."
He told his audience - which included 120 year 11 pupils from the town's secondary schools - that those "with technology had a responsibility to those without".
Prof Winston said: "We must use science to help in particular, those in Africa who are HIV positive. It is not just a responsibility it is a moral obligation."
As well as being a regular BBC presenter (Making Babies, the Bafta-winning The Human Body and Human Instinct) he is a peer and speaks for the Government in the House of Lords on education, science, medicine and the arts.
The lecture, organised by Colchester Optec (Opportunities in Technology) and Colchester Council, has been held annually for 23 years
Published Tuesday, April 8, 2003
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