New NHS newborn screening programme to be launched

The government has announced the launch of a new screening programme for newborn infants that will aim to increase the number of rare illnesses that can be identified at an early age.

Pilot schemes will take place in Sheffield, Leeds, Manchester, Birmingham and some areas of London, with around 430,000 children in total to be screened for maple syrup urine disease, homocystinuria, glutaric acidaemia type 1, isovaleric acidaemia and long-chain fatty acidaemia.

At present, every baby born in the UK is tested for one of five illnesses – including cystic fibrosis and sickle cell anaemia – which allows serious conditions to be caught early and treated appropriately.

This new trial will run for a year from July 2012, with the results to be subsequently assessed by the UK National Screening Committee.

Professor Dame Sally Davies, chief medical officer for England, said: "This is a fantastic step forward for the newborn screening programme and shows the NHS at the cutting edge."

This comes after shadow health secretary Andy Burnham issued a call earlier this month for expanded heart screenings to be offered to young people, following on from the recent health scare suffered by footballer Fabrice Muamba.