Fianna Fáil TD for Louth, Erin McGreehan, welcomes confirmation from the Minister for Health that screening will commence later this year for SMA and SCID.
By way of Parliamentary Question, Deputy McGreehan asked the Minister for Health for an update on the implementation of spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) screening within the national newborn bloodspot screening programme, whether she will confirm a target date for the rollout of SMA screening to all newborns and asked her to outline the Government’s ongoing commitment to expanding the newborn screening programme to include additional rare diseases
In her reply, the Minister said that the heal prick test currently tests for 9 rare and serious diseases and the Programme for Government commits to continually reviewing the number of conditions babies can be screened for. She went on to say that in 2023 there were two recommendations from the National Screening Advisory Committee (NSAC) on the addition of Severe Combined Immunodeficiency (SCID) and Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) to the NNBSP were approved.
As part of Budget 2024, €1.4m of new development funded was provided to support SCID and SMA and once both conditions are implemented the number of rare diseases and conditions screen for here will increase to 11 and is expected that screening will commence later this year.
Welcoming this news McGreehan said:
“I am pleased to get confirmation from the Minister that screening for SMA is to commence later this year. I raised concerns with the Minister in relation to its current implementation status and she has informed me the HSE has advised that the equipment needed to enable the roll-out testing for SMA and SCID has been purchased, delivered and successfully installed at the newborn screening laboratory and significant progress continues with regards to the laboratory verification process.
She added:
“The expansion of the NNBSP is critical for parents and children who may have children with SMA or other forms of rare diseases. The heal prick is essential for this, and I am pleased that the recruitment process to hire the additional staff required to support the expansion of it has been completed and work on developing screening and treatment pathways for both conditions is in its final stages.
Concluding Deputy McGreehan vowed to continue her representations on the matter until full implementation takes place.
“I have worked with constituents and SMA Ireland in relation to this issue. I will continue to represent them until we see a full implementation of screening later this year and I look forward to seeing that roll out.
“In the meantime, I will continue to engage with the Minister for Health to ensure this is delivered as soon as possible.
For further information, reach out to Erin McGreehan.
ENDS
