Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #117578

jelili Ojodu, MPH, newborn screening and genetics, association of public health laboratories, 2025 M Street, NW, Suite 550, Washington DC, DC 20036, 202.822.5227, jojodu@aphl.org

Title: Newborn Screening in States – Challenges to Expanded Screening

Each year, newborn screening programs in every state and territory test over 4 million newborns for genetic and metabolic disorders. These disorders can lead to a lifetime of severe disabilities or even death if not detected and treated early. Early detection of these genetic disorders prevents the pain, suffering, and financial burden imposed on families. The Department of Health and Human Services will soon be releasing a report that will recommend screening for 29 disorders, including newborn hearing screening in newborns. At the moment, states screen for between 4 and 40 disorders, with about one-third of the states screening for the new recommended panel of disorders. This session will focus on the challenges states will face in implementing expanded newborn screening and other recommendations from the HHS report. Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the session, the participant will be able to: • Understand how the newborn screening system works. • Identify the challenges to expanded newborn screening in state public health programs. • Understand how states select disorders to include in their newborn screening programs and educate parents and health care providers about newborn screening. • Describe state newborn screening programs' funding mechanisms. • Understand major difficulties facing state newborn screening systems.

Learning Objectives: