UPDATE - Thursday, April 4, 2013

Thank you Premier Darrell Dexter, Finance Minister Maureen MacDonald and Health Minister David Wilson!

Cystic Fibrosis Canada applauds today's announcement by Nova Scotia Finance Minister Maureen MacDonald to adopt cystic fibrosis newborn screening in the province. Nova Scotia becomes the sixth province in Canada to implement CF newborn screening, joining British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Ontario.

Cystic Fibrosis Canada is grateful for the support from legislators on all sides of the Nova Scotia House of Assembly. We also extend our gratitude to the volunteers who have helped successfully advocate for CF newborn screening in Nova Scotia.

Early diagnosis of cystic fibrosis through newborn screening provides identified children with a better start in life. Without CF newborn screening, irreversible lung damage, impediments to physical growth, and digestive problems may have already occurred when the child is finally diagnosed. To slow progression of the disease, early intervention is critical.

Newborn screening for cystic fibrosis is now the standard of care in all 50 states in the U.S., Australia, New Zealand, the U.K. and much of the European Union. Every Canadian province west of Quebec screens newborns for cystic fibrosis, yet families in Quebec and the Atlantic provinces, other than Nova Scotia, have no access to early detection for this fatal genetic disease.

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