A campaign led by Professor Bobby Gaspar from Great Ormond St Hospital for Sick Children to get newborn screening incorporated into the national newborn screening programme is moving forward with an event to be held on the 20th June at the Houses of Parliament in Westminster.
Survival of children with SCID is greatly improved by early diagnosis. Newborn screening using TRECs measured from blood spots on newborn Guthrie cards is already routinely and effectively used in the USA, Sweden and Israel to detect this disease, reducing deaths and improving outcome. UK-PIN strongly endorse newborn screening for this life-threatening immunodeficiency disorder in the UK. A letter of support from UK-PIN has been sent to Professor Steele, Chair of the Newborn Screening Committee.