Newborn bloodspot screening: setting the Australian national policy agenda

Wiltshire, Esko; Cameron, Fergus

doi:10.5694/mja14.00402

Topics

The recent article by Maxwell and O'Leary1 is timely in outlining the obstacles to introducing newborn screening tests in Australia, and the need for a nationally consistent approach, where the benefits of screening are proven. These obstacles exist despite clear policy developed by the professional newborn screening community.2

1 Department of Paediatrics and Child Health, University of Otago Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand.
2 Child Health, Capital and Coast District Health Board, Wellington, New Zealand.
3 Endocrinology and Diabetes, Royal Children's Hospital, Melbourne, VIC.

Correspondence: esko.wiltshire@otago.ac.nz

Competing interests:

We are representatives of the Australasian Paediatric Endocrine Group, the key professional body for paediatric endocrinologists in Australasia.

1. Maxwell SJ, O'Leary P. Newborn bloodspot screening: setting the Australian national policy agenda. Med J Aust 2014; 200: 142-143. <MJA full text>
2. Royal Australasian College of Physicians, Human Genetics Society of Australasia. Policy: newborn bloodspot testing. http://hgsa.org.au/documents/item/29 (accessed Jul 2014).
3. Warne GL, Armstrong KL, Faunce TA, et al. The case for newborn screening for congenital adrenal hyperplasia in Australia. Med J Aust 2010; 192: 107. <MJA full text>
4. Shetty VB, Bower C, Jones TW, et al. Ethnic and gender differences in rates of congenital adrenal hyperplasia in Western Australia over a 21 year period. J Paediatr Child Health 2012; 48: 1029-1032.

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