Heel prick tests will be used on newborn babies to screen for cystic fibrosis and other inherited conditions. Cystic fibrosis is the sixth condition that has been included in the National Newborn Bloodspot Screening Programme, which was introduced in 1966.

Ireland has the highest rate of CF in the world with over 1, 300 patients and an average of three people a week being diagnosed. This may have to do with the fact that Ireland was the last country in the EU to screen for newborns for the illness.

As of yesterday, all newborns will be screened for cystic fibrosis. Testing them as a newborn will mean that the disease can be picked early and treated quicker to reduce the harm of the respiratory system.

Before the heel prick testing, babies were being diagnosed late; this put them at a higher risk of malnutrition and respiratory distress.

Chief Executive Philip Watt states that this testing is a “significant advancement and necessary for proper treatment of the disease. Screening for cystic fibrosis, along with the existing five conditions, aids early detection and helps babies to begin treatment as soon as possible. While these conditions are all rare, it’s very important that parents have their baby screened”.