New prenatal test “Unauthorized inspection facility” To grasp the actual situation October 21 18:00
The Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare is aware of the actual situation because it seems that there are increasing cases of appropriate counseling in the new prenatal test that examines the blood of pregnant women to check for abnormalities in the baby's chromosomes. We started to consider measures.
A new type of prenatal test to check if the baby in the stomach has a chromosomal abnormality that causes disability is determined by the Japanese Society of Obstetrics and Gynecology, which provides sufficient counseling for pregnant women. Over 90 hospitals nationwide that have been filled are approved.
However, there are no legal penalties without authorization, and it has been pointed out that an increasing number of facilities are not authorized and perform inspections without sufficient counseling.
For this reason, the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare established an expert review meeting to grasp the actual situation and take measures, and held the first meeting on the 21st.
At the meeting, the secretariat examined the inspection system in the unlicensed facility and proposed a questionnaire for those who received the inspection.
The Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare has decided to examine necessary measures based on the opinions of experts, after grasping the spread and problems of unauthorized inspection.
Expert “Creating a system for proper inspection”
Dr. Haruhiko Sagami of the National Center for Child Health and Development says, “In the new prenatal test, we need not only to convey the results, but also to counseling to answer how the pregnant women are individually interpreting and worried. “There are no obstetrics and gynecologists in the unlicensed facility in the country, and it is a big problem that there is not enough counseling on how to respond as a result of the examination.”
After that, Dr. Sagami said, “How many tests were performed and what the results were, and after grasping the current situation, what kind of facilities can be properly counseled, etc. It is necessary to discuss how to build a system that can be received. "