Understanding the financial costs of spinal muscular atrophy

Our Chair, Laurent Servais, has released a video (click below) that explains the impact that treatment for SMA can have on financial costs and health for children with SMA. In particular, the video shows the difference between patients who haven’t been treated, patients who have been treated after symptom onset, and patients who have been treated pre-symptomatically. Identifying patients through newborn screening and treating them pre-symptomatically is far more cost effective than waiting until symptom onset. In fact, for every second the UK doesn’t screen for SMA, we pay €4! Newborn screening can deliver a massive saving on medical and societal costs, as well as giving children with SMA a healthier outlook. The research paper that the video is based on can be found here.