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Story summary
- After a campaign by singer Jesy Nelson and SMA UK, England will start newborn screening for spinal muscular atrophy in October 2026.
- The programme will use the standard heel-prick blood test on every baby born in England.
- Early detection will enable treatment with NHS-funded medicines such as Spinraza, Evrysdi and the one-time gene therapy Zolgensma.
- A pilot will test 404,000 infants annually, leaving 163,000 as a control group, a design criticised by experts.
