Status of Spinal Muscular Atrophy Newborn Screening in Europe
SMA Newborn Screening Part of Nationwide Programme
Nationwide Pilot Ongoing
Active Regional Pilot(s)
Application for national program submitted
Pilot planned
No information available currently
This is an interactive map, click on a country to learn more about the status of SMA newborn screening.
Overall situation of SMA Newborn Screening (updated Jan 2023)
- The SMA NBS Alliance’s objective is for 100% of babies born in Europe to be screened for SMA by 2025.
- SMA Europe estimates that 25% of newborn babies in the EU were screened for SMA at the end of 2021.
- By the end of 2022, SMA Europe estimates 45% of newborns born in Europe will be screened for SMA. 40% considering the European continent including Russia and Turkey.
SMA NBS progress and status in 2022
- In 2020, only the Netherlands had validated its newborn screening policy to include SMA, though still had not implemented it. A few local pilots were ongoing in Belgium, Germany, and Italy.
- In 2022, the list of European countries actively screening nationwide as part of including SMA in the national screening program includes Belgium, Germany, Norway, and the Netherlands.
- In 2022, nationwide SMA newborn screening pilots are ongoing in Austria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Portugal, and Poland. In most cases, these pilots are already planned to be included in the permanent national screening programs.
- Slovenia announces the start of its national program at the end of 2022.
- In 2022, regional pilots are ongoing in Denmark, Estonia, Latvia, Spain, Serbia,
- Ukraine, and the United Kingdom.
- In 2023, nationwide NBS for SMA as part of the national screening program is
- expected to start in Lithuania, Luxembourg, and Slovakia.
- In 2022, applications for SMA newborn screening were deposited with the national
- authorities in Sweden and Switzerland with decisions expected by 2023.
- Outside of Europe, nationwide SMA newborn screening started in Turkey on May 9,
- 2022, and regional pilots continue in the Russian Federation. In the United States 49 out of 50 states screen for SMA at birth which accounts for around 98% of newborn babies that are screened.
A pilot is a small, normally regional, study to test newborn screening research protocols, data collection instruments, sample strategies, and other research techniques in preparation for a larger study or implementation of newborn screening for SMA nationwide.
