§ Mr. Hilary BennTo ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list the health authorities that currently offer pregnant women screening for(a) Down's syndrome and (b) cystic fibrosis; and if he will make a statement. [137375]
§ Yvette CooperThis information is not collected centrally. A Lancet paper surveying the provision and method of antenatal Down's syndrome screening (page 1264, Vol. 154, 9 October, 1999) is available in the Library.
The United Kingdom National Screening Committee will build on this work to inform its implementation plans for a universal antenatal Down's syndrome screening programme. At present the Committee does not recommend universal antenatal screening for cystic fibrosis.