26
Jul 2019
Screening for UK newborns ‘not good enough’
Charity Genetic Alliance UK have published a report which states babies lives are being put at risk in the UK through missing out on checks for rare but serious health conditions.
The NHS currently offers a blood test to newborns to screen for up to nine conditions. However, many other European countries look for 20 or more illnesses and the US screens for in excess of 50.
The charity say the UK is lagging behind other countries and that some treatable illnesses are going undiagnosed, adding that affordable ways to extend the screening do exist but are not being used.
They also say that UK couples are currently unable to make an informed decision on whether to grow their family if future children are at high risk of rare and inherited illnesses.
Public Health England’s director of screening Professor Anne Mackie, said “Every September the committee makes a call for new conditions to be considered for screening and this year they’ve received a number of proposals to consider new diseases as part of the newborn blood spot screening programme.
“The committee will make its recommendations by the autumn.”
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Posted by Tony May, Partner/head of Clinical Negligence Department, Chadwick Lawrence LLP (tonymay@chadlaw.co.uk ), medical negligence lawyers and clinical negligence solicitors in Huddersfield, Leeds, Wakefield and Halifax, West Yorkshire.
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