PRINTER'S NO. 2427
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
HOUSE RESOLUTION
No.
475
Session of
2019
INTRODUCED BY CRUZ, YOUNGBLOOD, DiGIROLAMO, SCHLOSSBERG, KINSEY,
SCHWEYER, BURNS, KAUFFMAN, McCLINTON, BIZZARRO, LONGIETTI,
FREEMAN, MOUL, STURLA, PYLE, HILL-EVANS, BOBACK, MILLARD,
READSHAW, MACKENZIE, CALTAGIRONE, MALAGARI, KORTZ, HEFFLEY
AND McNEILL, SEPTEMBER 12, 2019
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON HEALTH, SEPTEMBER 12, 2019
A RESOLUTION
Observing the month of September 2019 as "Newborn Screening
Awareness Month" in Pennsylvania.
WHEREAS, Newborn screening is the practice of screening every
newborn prior to hospital discharge for certain harmful or
potentially fatal conditions that are not otherwise apparent at
birth; and
WHEREAS, Early detection of these conditions in newborns
facilitates timely interventions that result in significant
decreases in morbidity, mortality and disability; and
WHEREAS, Newborn screening is a comprehensive system that
includes testing, diagnosis, follow-up, treatment, education and
evaluation; and
WHEREAS, Every year nearly 4 million newborns in the United
States and more than 135,000 newborns in Pennsylvania undergo
newborn screening; and
WHEREAS, Newborn screening was recently named in the Centers
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for Disease Control and Prevention's list of Ten Great Public
Health Achievements in the 20th Century; and
WHEREAS, Newborn screening began in 1963 in the United States
with testing for phenylketonuria (PKU); and
WHEREAS, Pennsylvania began newborn screening with the act of
September 9, 1965 (P.L.497, No.251), known as the Newborn Child
Testing Act, by requiring physicians, hospitals and other
institutions to administer tests or cause tests to be
administered for PKU and other metabolic diseases upon infants
in certain cases; and
WHEREAS, Since first enacted in 1965, the Newborn Child
Testing Act has been amended three times, most recently with Act
148 of 2014, which expanded the list of required diseases for
testing from 6 to 12; and
WHEREAS, In addition to the required testing, Pennsylvania
provides newborn hearing screening, testing for critical
congenital heart disease and follow-up screening and services
for all 38 currently listed newborn conditions on Pennsylvania's
two screening panels; and
WHEREAS, The Commonwealth's Newborn Screening and Follow-Up
Program is administered by the Pennsylvania Department of
Health; and
WHEREAS, "Newborn Screening Awareness Month" was started in
2000 by the Save Babies Through Screening Foundation, along with
several partner organizations, to shine a national spotlight on
newborn screening and its detectable diseases; therefore be it
RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives observe the month
of September 2019 as "Newborn Screening Awareness Month" in
Pennsylvania; and be it further
RESOLVED, That the Commonwealth officially recognize the
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importance of awareness of newborn screening and encourage
parents and future parents to educate themselves and take the
necessary steps to ensure the health of their children.
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