Consolidation of the Neonatal Screening Program as a Public Health Program in Paraguay

Abstract

In Paraguay, neonatal screening for congenital hypothyroidism (CH) and phenylketonuria (PKU) started in October 1999, in 2005 cystic fibrosis (CF) was selectively incorporated. The National Program for Neonatal Screening has a centralized laboratory that encompasses 1.132 Sample Collecting Sites (SCS) distributed in the 18 Health Regions, with over 80% coverage of live births; the incidence of CH being 1:2.060, HPA/PKU 1:6.328 and CF 1:5.671 newborns. The newborn screening program headed by the Ministry of Public Health and Social Welfare in Paraguay has been consolidated itself as a public health program. This publication describes the historic 20-year process, the strategies and activities carried out as well as the results and achievements, among which it is important to point out the achievement of newborns screening laws that make mandatory to detect, diagnose and treat those affected, as well as the human resources committed to newborn screening.