Today is International newborn screening day. Today is also PKU day. This is why today we have to remind the public and the institutions that in North Macedonia, screening for PKU and other metabolic diseases is only partially available, not for all newborn babies.
PKU is a disease that is mandatorily screened in many countries in the world. North Macedonia is the only country in the region that does this screening only for 2000 to 4000 babies (20 000 are born during the year). The number usually depends on the financial situation of the program for screening at the Ministry of Health.
Since the disease is not discovered at birth, but at 2 months, 6 months, and sometimes in a year or 2, the situation is not good. Children with PKU who are not discovered at birth have mental and physical problems during their life. This is why it is important to screen for PKU. To provide a normal life for children with PKU and their families.
In this post we include the translated principles for newborn screening for rare diseases from EURORDIS:
Начела за скрининг на новороденчиња
More information about PKU in Macedonian language are available here:
More information on International PKU day:
