June 28, 2021

The International Neonatal Screening Day is born!


It is with great pleasure that IPOPI, in partnership with the International Society for Neonatal Screening (ISNS) and the European Society for Immunodeficiencies (ESID), announces the launch of the first International Neonatal Screening Day (INSD) on June 28, 2021.

IPOPI, ISNS and ESID have been working together for some years now under the multi-stakeholder Screen4Rare initiative to promote the importance of neonatal (newborn)  screening. The INSD initiative emanates from discussions between the three organisations, following a proposal by IPOPI’s Executive Director Johan Prévot which was subsequently formally endorsed by all three partner organisations. The date of June 28 was proposed by ISNS as it coincides with the birthday of Dr Robert Guthrie and his landmark contribution to Neonatal Screening, not just a test but also a means of sample collection to identify children with rare disease shortly after birth. June 28 is therefore a particularly auspicious day to celebrate the achievements of the concept that he helped both devise and promote.

We would like to invite our national member organisations and all other interested stakeholders to support the initiative and join us in calling for increased collaboration and discussions on this key preventive measure for the wellbeing of newborns and their families.

You can read here the press release announcing the launch of the first INSD which we would encourage you to post on your respective websites and social medial networks.