LONDON — British health authorities are facing pressure to rethink how to expand the list of diseases for which all newborns are screened. Critics argue that the process has traditionally been rushed, resulting in children dying from treatable illnesses or being left disabled.
In the UK, as in many parts of the world, newborns are given a few drops of blood immediately after birth to be tested for a variety of symptoms. The idea is to identify and start treating diseases before they cause harm.
The list of screening tests varies by country. Portugal and Austria, for example, review about two dozen conditions, while in the United States states have the final say. Recommended by federal authorities Three dozen, two more added to the list just last month.
In the UK, babies are tested for 10 diseases. One was added in the last 10 years.
As a result, advocates and doctors say, infants with certain genetic disorders are only diagnosed after their symptoms start to snowball. New drugs, including gene therapy, can often halt disease progression; they can’t relax The disease has already caused cell destruction, meaning any delay in treatment can lead to drastic changes in a child’s life.
The situation in the UK highlights how countries approach newborn screening, with varying views on both its usefulness and drawbacks, and sometimes in very different ways. This issue is also of interest to pharmaceutical companies. Pharmaceutical companies want to ensure that their medicines reach as many patients as possible in order to maximize profits and increase revenue for people in need, and when it comes to gene therapy in particular, companies have often struggled to become big money makers.
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