Read the UK NSC’s annual report for April 2020 to March 2021

The UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC) had another busy year in 2020 to 2021.

The report summarises the committee’s work and highlights all the recommendations made over the course of the year. These covered:

• adrenoleukodystrophy (ALD)
• asymptomatic bacteriuria
• bladder cancer
• bowel scope screening in the bowel cancer screening programme
• depression
• fetal presentation
• dyslexia in school age children
• fetomaternal alloimmune thrombocytopenia (FMAIT)
• galactosaemia
• haemochromatosis
• hearing loss in adults
• oral cancer
• pressure reducing carotid stenosis, vascular dementia, regional cerebral hypotension
• preterm birth in low risk women
• prostate cancer
• scoliosis
• stomach cancer
• syphilis in pregnancy
• thrombophilia

The UK NSC also looked at proposals to modify several of the existing screening programmes. These covered:

• abdominal aortic aneurysm screening
• newborn hearing screening
• sickle cell and thalassaemia screening

Professor Bob Steele, UK NSC Chair, said:

Despite the challenges of COVID, which have been faced with such equanimity by everyone over the last year, I’m really pleased that the UK NSC’s important work has continued and been largely unaffected. We have made 22 recommendations about population screening to government ministers.

Notwithstanding their significant limitations, online meetings were embraced by all committee members. The evidence team, part of the committee’s secretariat function in Public Health England, continued to ably support the committee’s work with their usual high quality evidence products.

I would like to thank the committee members, secretariat and everyone from across the UK who has engaged so positively with the committee this year. You have all contributed to the scientific, technical and ethical deliberations which help us to make effective recommendations. I’m sure there will be another busy year ahead, full of opportunities to continue to make a positive contribution to the public health of the UK.