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Children's Health
Conference 2010
The Children’s Health
Conference 2010 was held at the Queen
Elizabeth 2 Conference Centre in London on
23rd November 2010. Professor Lord Robert
Winston and Dr Mark Porter jointly chaired
the conference, and the opening address was
given by Anne Milton MP, Parliamentary Under
Secretary of State for Public Health.
During the conference, an
hour long workshop titled Newborn
Screening Expansion Perspectives,
facilitated by conference sponsors
PerkinElmer, was well attended by delegates.
Dr Brad Therrell, of the
National Newborn Screening Genetic Research
Programme in Austin, Texas, USA, gave a very
interesting presentation on the historical
background of the extended newborn screening
programme in the USA and outlined the step
changes and successes that had been achieved
over recent years in terms of child health.
Dr Mike Henderson, Consultant
Paediatric Biochemist from St James’s
University Hospital Leeds spoke on some of the
enhanced technical developments in newborn
screening laboratories.
Pat Roberts of Save Babies
UK spoke on the current position in
terms of newborn screening in the UK,
comparing the UK to other European member
states who are extending their newborn
screening programmes, and to other
countries with similar health systems to our
own. Pat outlined the importance of
extending our newborn screening programme
from a patient advocate perspective,
including the many issues surrounding
newborn screening and work that was being
done to address these. Pat informed
delegates of the work that was being
undertaken to influence policy making. She
explained the significant work being done by
the UK Patient Advocate for Newborn
Screening Working Collaborative.
December 2010
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