We all know that population screening can have a huge impact. It can save, prolong or increase the quality of people’s lives. And it can offer people choices about their health. The UK National Screening Committee already considers 108 different topics on a regular 3-yearly basis. We have 11 screening programmes in England, between them offering screening for several dozen important health conditions.
But it might be that the Committee is unaware of a condition that would be a great candidate for a new screening programme (or an addition to an existing programme). The annual call is your opportunity to make a proposal for a new topic to be considered by the UK NSC as part of its regular review process.
What’s really important is that this is only for conditions NOT already considered by the UK NSC. So please do check carefully that the condition you’re interested in isn’t already on the UK NSC’s list before you submit a proposal.
If it is already on the list and you think it should be considered sooner by the UK NSC, perhaps because some important new evidence is available, then you can request this using the ‘early update’ guidance in the UK NSC’s evidence review process (section 5.3).
Please do also let us know how you found the annual call process and whether it could be improved. Everyone making a submission will be asked to complete a very short survey to provide feedback.
Second annual call for topics
- the condition is not already on the UK NSC list of health screening topics
- the proposal is for a population-wide screening programme, and not for high-risk groups
- the proposal follows UK NSC guidance on submission
Submit a condition
Submissions are open until midnight on Wednesday 6 December 2017. We will evaluate all proposals against UK NSC screening criteria.
Tell us which conditions you think we should screen for following these 3 steps.
1. Download the submission form and see an example of a completed form.
2. Follow the instructions on the form and e-mail your submission.
Timeline for your submission
After the call for topics closes in December, we will respond to your submission within 10 weeks of its close.
Members of the UK NSC will meet in January to discuss these submissions and we aim to give our final recommendations on 28 February 2018.
UK NSC blog
The UK NSC blog provides up to date news from the UK National Screening Committee. You can register to receive updates direct to your inbox, so there’s no need to keep checking for new articles. If you have any questions about this blog article, or about the work of the UK NSC, please contact the UK NSC helpdesk.
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