UPDATE - Thursday, April 4, 2013

Thank you Premier Darrell Dexter, Finance Minister Maureen MacDonald and Health Minister David Wilson!

Cystic Fibrosis Canada applauds today's announcement by Nova Scotia Finance
Minister Maureen MacDonald to adopt cystic fibrosis newborn screening in the
province. Nova Scotia becomes the sixth province in Canada to implement CF
newborn screening, joining British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and
Ontario.

Cystic Fibrosis Canada is grateful for the support from legislators on all
sides of the Nova Scotia House of Assembly. We also extend our gratitude to the
volunteers who have helped successfully advocate for CF newborn screening in
Nova Scotia.

Early diagnosis of cystic fibrosis through newborn screening provides
identified children with a better start in life. Without CF newborn screening,
irreversible lung damage, impediments to physical growth, and digestive problems
may have already occurred when the child is finally diagnosed. To slow
progression of the disease, early intervention is critical.

Newborn screening for cystic fibrosis is now the standard of care in all 50
states in the U.S., Australia, New Zealand, the U.K. and much of the European
Union. Every Canadian province west of Quebec screens newborns for cystic
fibrosis, yet families in Quebec and the Atlantic provinces, other than Nova
Scotia, have no access to early detection for this fatal genetic disease.