Spain's Congress Advances Uniform Neonatal Screening Law

The Spanish Senate's Health Commission approved, with full legislative competence, the PSOE‑proposed law to homogenize neonatal screening across all autonomous communities. The measure, passed with a majority of 33 votes in favour and one against, aims to guarantee universal, equitable access to the heel‑prick test, expand the list of screened disorders from 12 to 21 conditions and set a minimum annual evaluation of the programme.

The bill includes a trans‑party amendment, negotiated between the PSOE, PP and Sumar, that protects the confidentiality of public‑funded drug‑price agreements. While the PP and PSOE praised the proposal as a common‑sense, evidence‑based policy, Vox abstained and some opposition parties criticised the amendment and warned that structural fragmentation of regional health systems remains unresolved.