To:
National Desk, Health Reporter,
Congressional Reporter
Contact: Shauna Dillavou of
Association of Public Health
Laboratories, 240-485-2754 or
shauna.dillavou@aphl.org
WASHINGTON, April 28 /U.S.
Newswire/ -- The Association of
Public Health Laboratories (APHL)
commends Senators Chris Dodd (D-Conn.)
and Mike DeWine (R-Ohio) 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, S. 2663,
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,
APHL president and director of
Connecticut's public health
laboratory. "This legislation
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 S. 2663."
Public health laboratories
conduct newborn screening tests
on 97 percent of the babies born
in the U.S. -- 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 provides 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.
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