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