England to screen all newborns for SMA in national five-year trial

England will run a five-year national trial to test every newborn for Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) starting October 2027, led by Professor Laurent Servais of the University of Oxford, to evaluate adding SMA to the routine heel-prick blood spot test for effectiveness, practicality, and cost to the NHS. The phased rollout begins in Birmingham, Manchester and London before nationwide expansion, with initial screening around 400,000 babies and about 600,000 per year thereafter, aiming to identify roughly 60 SMA cases annually. The trial follows a Thames Valley pilot that diagnosed Teddy, highlighting potential benefits, and comes amid campaigning by Jesy Nelson for universal SMA screening.