NATIONAL LEVEL WORKSHOP ON “NEW BORN SCREENING FOR INHERITED METABOLIC DISORDERS”

22nd July, 2024.

A simple cost effective test of dried blood spots of a just born child can help detect and treat inherited metabolic disorders, potentially preventing intellectual disabilities in infants and therefore it is time it is made mandatory for all births in India said Dr. Anil Jalan, paediatrician and eminent metabolic and genetic counsellor here today. Speaking at a national level workshop on ‘new born screening for inherited metabolic disorders’ at Sri Ramachandra Institute of Higher Education and Research here he said 2700 children are born with metabolic disorders in India every year. While there are about 1900 metabolic
disorders this simple blood test can detect 55 of them. Even at the level of a village or public health centre, just three drops of blood collected from heel prick, dried on a filter paper and sent to a good lab can help prevent serious mental disorders in some children he said.

Speaking on the occasion Dr. B. Umamaheswari, HoD, Neonatology, said that at Sri Ramachandra Medical Centre new born screening began with thyroid disorders in 2004 and expanded to include screening for 21 metabolic conditions since 2016. Till now we have screened over 14000 live births, identifying 14 cases of inherited metabolic disorders, she added.

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For more information pl. contact….
Dr. B. Umamaheswari, HoD, Neonatology, SRIHER 9941853855
Issued by Mr. T. G. Nallamuthu, Consultant, and Media Relations, SRIHER 9444265578, 9940399346.
Mr. D. Sivagnanavel, Head-Media & Corporate Relations, SRIHER, 9444 448616.