6,000 fewer foot tests done than in 2020
Between January and November this year, Portugal participated in 6,058 fewer “little foot tests” than in the same period last year.
The information was released this Wednesday by the Ricardo Jorge National Health Institute (INSA), which this year, until November 72,316 “little foot tests”, the screening carried out between the third and sixth day of the baby’s life and that covers almost all births in Portugal.
The data released by the INSA referring to the first eleven months of this year, although Lisbon was the district with the most babies screened, with 21,485 tests carried out. Porto follows, with 13,435 tests, Setúbal with 5,425 and Braga with 5,322. In turn, Bragança (466), Portalegre (533) and Guarda (576) were the districts with the fewest newborns studied.
The National Neonatal Screening Program has been carrying out, since 1979, the so-called “little foot test”. The panel of screened diseases is made up of 26 pathologies, and the examination is carried out by obtaining a few droplets of blood in the child’s foot. The examination must be performed between the third and sixth day of the newborn’s life.