{"id":693935,"date":"2026-07-16T00:50:14","date_gmt":"2026-07-16T00:50:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/693935\/"},"modified":"2026-07-16T00:50:14","modified_gmt":"2026-07-16T00:50:14","slug":"jesy-nelson-calls-plan-to-test-newborns-for-deadly-muscle-condition-sma-a-victory","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/693935\/","title":{"rendered":"Jesy Nelson calls plan to test newborns for deadly muscle condition SMA a &#8216;victory&#8217;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">The test uses a sample of blood taken in a heel prick shortly after birth.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Nelson said: &#8220;After years of campaigning, it means so much.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">&#8220;Today is a day of hope. Knowing that future families will have access to early diagnosis and the opportunity for the best possible outcomes is something I&#8217;m incredibly proud to have supported.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">&#8220;This is a victory for every family affected by SMA. Whilst it can&#8217;t change the future of our children, I know it marks the beginning of a brighter future for future SMA families.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Hundreds of thousands of babies are expected to be screened for SMA as part of the study, which will be led by scientists at the University of Oxford.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">That will help the UK National Screening Committee make a final decision on whether SMA testing should become a permanent fixture.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">James Murray, the health secretary, said he was &#8220;in awe&#8221; of campaigners who had worked to raise awareness of SMA. <\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">&#8220;No parent should have to watch their child lose the ability to move or breathe, knowing that earlier treatment could have made all the difference,&#8221; Murray said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The test uses a sample of blood taken in a heel prick shortly after birth. Nelson said: &#8220;After&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":693936,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[6491,96,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-693935","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-celebrities","tag-celebrities","tag-entertainment","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/693935","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=693935"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/693935\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/693936"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=693935"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=693935"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=693935"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}