Health Minister says yes to a blood test that can detect Down syndrome

Baby: pixabay.com

The Ministry of Health has approved the use of non-invasive prenatal screening (NIPT) to reduce the need for placental and amniotic fluid testing in pregnant women who are entitled to a prenatal diagnosis.

The Directorate of Health and Biotechnology Council has recommended adopting the blood sample NIPT, but the Directorate of Health agreed the recommendation with a more limited approval than the Biotechnology Council.

‘We endorse the blood sample within the scope of current strict conditions for prenatal diagnosis, and in accordance with the Norwegian National Health Service’s (CMO’s) recommendations’, said Health and Human Services Minister, Bent Høie.

Høie said that the purpose of the approval of the blood sample, a non-invasive prenatal test (NIPT), is to reduce the need for placental and amniotic fluid testing, thereby reducing the risk of miscarriage that gaining these samples may cause.

Prenatal diagnosis is mainly reserved for pregnant women who are at increased risk of having children with serious genetic disease, or developmental anomalies, including those who are 38 years or older at term.

 

Source: NTB scanpix / Norway Today