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News from Yahoo! news Feb. 15, 2007
Association of Public Health
Laboratories Applauds Introduction of Newborn Screening Saves Lives
Act
To: POLITICAL EDITORS
Contact: Jody DeVoll of the Association of Public Health
Laboratories, +1-240-485-2753, jody.devoll@aphl.org
WASHINGTON, Feb. 15 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Association of
Public Health Laboratories (APHL) commends Senators Chris Dodd (D-CT)
and Orrin Hatch (news, bio, voting record) (R-UT) for their
introduction of legislation to provide increased parent and health
care provider education, improve follow-up care and enable states to
improve their newborn screening programs. The Newborn Screening
Saves Lives Act of 2007 represents a significant commitment to
improving the health of children by assuring that testing will
continue to occur with the greatest level of accuracy and that those
children with life threatening and debilitating disorders will
receive prompt and effective treatment.
"The nation's public health laboratories have been at the vanguard
of newborn screening since its inception in 1965," said Katherine
Kelley, DrPH, director of Connecticut's public health laboratory. "I'm
thrilled that Senator Dodd has again introduced legislation that
will allow public health laboratories to continue to provide the
highly-accurate testing results -- results that enable health care
providers to immediately begin treatments that save and improve the
lives of children -- as technological advances broaden the number of
disorders that can be detected. I urge all members of the Senate to
cosponsor Newborn Screening Saves Lives Act of 2007."
Public health laboratories conduct newborn screening tests on 97
percent of the babies born in the US -- tests that have long been
recognized as an essential and effective preventive public health
service that identifies thousands of babies each year who are born
with a genetic or metabolic disorder. Laboratories and parents must
be confident that tests results are accurate and that disorders are
not missed.
"This important piece of legislation is needed to ensure that all
babies born in the US have an equal chance for a healthy start to
life," said William Becker, DO, MPH, chair of the APHL Newborn
Screening and Genetics in Public Health Committee. "It is especially
significant that the new bill directs the Secretary of Health and
Human Services to develop a national contingency plan for newborn
screening so we can build upon the experiences learned after
Hurricane Katrina and that it continues to provide critical monies
for assuring the quality of all newborn screening laboratory testing."
The funding provided in the bill for the Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention
(CDC) will enable CDC to utilize
state-of-the-art science to address pressing newborn screening
issues that are of public health concern and:
-- Develop new screening methods for specific disorders, including
asthma,
autism, diabetes, severe combined immune deficiency (SCID) and
metabolic storage diseases such as mucopolysaccharidoses and
adrenoleukodystrophy
-- Adapt innovative technologies for screening and quality assurance
-- Transfer appropriate screening technologies to state public
health
laboratories
-- Assist states in conducting pilot studies related to new
screening
tests for newborns that would identify babies with disorders that
are
not part of the current panel of tests
-- Develop systems for new screening tests to monitor the quality of
testing methods in all laboratories
-- Upgrade online data-reporting site to accommodate expanding the
number
of newborn screening tests that state laboratories conduct
-- Develop DNA methods and controls for genetic measurements that
will be
used in the future to detect disorders
CDC's Environmental Health Laboratory is the only comprehensive
source in the world for ensuring the accuracy of newborn screening
tests, and the nation's public health laboratories depend on it for
the success of their newborn screening operations.
The Association of Public Health Laboratories works with members to
strengthen laboratories serving the public's health. By promoting
effective programs and public policy, APHL strives to provide public
health laboratories with the resources to protect the health of US
residents and to prevent and control disease globally.
Contact:
Jody DeVoll, Director of Communications and Membership,
240.485.2753, jody.devoll@aphl.org
SOURCE Association of Public Health Laboratories
http://news.yahoo.com/s/usnw/20070215/pl_usnw/association_of_public_health_laboratories
_applauds_introduction_of_newborn_screening_saves_lives_act
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