Call for cystic fibrosis screening across UK

A UK scientist has attacked the government for failing to launch a national screening programme for cystic fibrosis (CF), reported the Guardian newspaper last week. Howard Cuckle, professor of reproductive epidemiology at Leeds University said: 'It's quite scandalous that there's been all this hype about the genome project and enormous expectations of how it's going to change things, and yet we've known for more than ten years the gene responsible for CF and we're not screening for it'.

CF affects over 7,500 people in the UK and 250 children are born with the illness each year. The condition causes a thick build-up of mucus in the lungs and pancreas and affected people have an average life expectancy of 30 years. 'We should be offering all expectant couples pre-birth screening so they can prevent the birth of a child with CF', Professor Cuckle said.

Last year, the government rejected the findings of a report from Professor Cuckle and colleagues, which recommended national screening. The committee responsible is considering the issue again later this year. Director Dr Muir Gray said it supported offering parents an informed choice over abortion, but feared being seen as promoting eugenics.

Since the introduction of a CF screening programme in Edinburgh, the number of children born with the condition has fallen from an average of 4.6 a year to 1.6. This drop cannot entirely be accounted for by terminations, implying that couples who find they both have a copy of the altered gene responsible for CF are subsequently choosing not to have more children together.