Cystic Fibrosis Carrier Screening
My position on cystic fibrosis (CF) screening, would be to have it as an option but not as a mandatory screening for pregnant women. Oneof the reasons, I feel that I would not choose to add this to the other mandatory screenings is the cost of testing for CF. The module provided states that an initial cost to see if someone is a CF carrier is $250, but if a follow up is needed and both parents need testing the cost jumps to $1200. I feel there is a huge gap between the cost of the CF test compared to the sickle cell test that only costs 4.00 per test. Also CF occurs in 1 of 3500 births compared to 1 out of 500 births for sickle cell occurring mostly in African Americans. Although cystic fibrosis is a serious disease, advancements and prognosis for the disease are improving. According to an article I found in the New York Times most children with CF are fairly healthy until they reach adulthood, many attend school, finish college and find employment. The current life span for CF is 37 years of age and has had a dramatic increase over the last three decades. I believe if we took a portion of the large testing costs for CF and put it towards further research on how to handle and treat cystic fibrosis, that by the time the children that may have been born with CF are approaching adulthood we should have increased the life span even more dramatically. I feel it will be likely with research, that in a short time period those with CF can live a fairly healthy, normal and long life span. We have seen similar life span increases with sickle cell anemia as well. As of the year 1973 the average life span for those with sickle cell was 14 years of age, currently many reach the age of 50 and over. I would prefer to use funds to put towards research for CF but also make it an option that the parents can pay for if they want the CF test preformed. I also feel within a small amount of time we should be able to reduce the cost of the CF test significantly as well.
References:
Association of Schools of Public Health. Ethics and Public Health: Model Curriculum -MODULE 8. Retrieved from
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), (2014), Sickle Cell Disease, Data & Statistics, Retrieved by
New York Times, (Feb, 2014), Health Guide, Cystic Fibrosis, Retrieved by
St. Vincent Hospital, (2014), Cystic Fibrosis Diagnosis And Prognosis/ How Common is Cystic Fibrosis, Retrieved by