November is dedicated to preventative pediatrics with the annual awareness-raising campaign and initiatives of the Association of Friends of the “Amerikos Argyriou” Centre for Preventive Paediatrics (CPP). Such efforts are dedicated to highlighting the importance of preventive paediatrics and the Centre’s work. For more than 36 years, the Centre has been offering high-quality screening programmes to pregnant women and newborns in society, so that children can have the best possible start in life.
In particular, the CPP is the only institution in our country that, for 36 years has been carrying out three essential screening programmes, free of charge, to all pregnant women and newborns in Cyprus: 1. The Prenatal Screening Programme, for the early diagnosis of chromosomal abnormalities, offered to all pregnant women in the first trimester of pregnancy. 276,409 pregnant women have been screened to date.
2. The Newborn Screening Programme, for the early diagnosis of metabolic abnormalities in newborns. 323,173 newborns have been screened to date.
3. The Newborn Hearing Screening Programme, for the early detection and diagnosis of congenital hearing loss, present in a newborn at birth. The programme has been offered to 149,818 newborns so far.
This effort is supported by the Association of Friends of the CPP, which is the lynchpin of the organisation, given that it actively supports the Centre to continue to provide the vital screening programmes, free of charge, to the enti.