Neonatal screening in France

The French Association for Neonatal Screening was created in 1975 in response to the need for an organization to coordinate neonatal screening activities in France. The program of ‘systematic’ neonatal screening has been voluntarily limited to the screening of phenylketonuria and congenital hypothyroidism, and is based on regional delegations. Although screening has not been legally mandated, the percentage of coverage has been very high (99.7%), with 17 million newborns screened for phenylketonuria and 10 million screened for congenital hypothyroidism. The organization also includes regional centralization for follow-up which provides data for evaluation of all aspects of the program.