Medical experts bring non-invasive prenatal screening to Australia

Australian mothers will now have access to revolutionary prenatal screening technology that was previously only available, at a far higher cost, in the United States.

The technology has become available in Victoria, offering a non- invasive blood test to screen expectant mothers for chromosomal disorders such as Down syndrome early in the pregnancy.

The Victorian Clinical Genetic Services, a not-for-profit genetic testing organization, will offer the revolutionary test at the Murdoch Children's Research Institute in Melbourne.

Previously, those who wanted the cutting-edge test would have to travel to the United States and pay upwards of 1,500 U.S dollars, but Murdoch Children's Research Institute in Melbourne has purchased two screening machines to Victoria, at a cost of 20, 000 U.S dollars each, to offer the tests to Australians at a much more affordable rate.

Medical director and Associate Professor at the Murdoch Institute David Amor told ABC radio's PM program that the availability of a revolutionary test like this in Australia will change the way fetuses are analyzed in the future. "There is certainly a strong benefit in having the laboratory scientists in close communication with the counselors who are in turn in close communication with the patient," he said on Monday.

"As the technology improves we will see the test advance and see a lot more conditions added onto those that can be tested for non-invasively."

Amor said that currently up to 80 percent of pregnant women in Australia are undergoing a similar test that is invasive and poses some risk to the woman and her unborn child.

"We know that about 80 percent of women in Victoria were accessing that (invasive) test so potentially the non-invasive test could end up being offered or being taken up by 80 percent of pregnant women and I think all that will be required is the cost of the test to drop a little bit further," he said.

"I think the women have cast their vote that they want to have non-invasive testing, that is definitely their preference, so that is the direction that testing will go."

The cost of the test has plummeted to just 390 U.S dollars down from the previous 1,500 U.S dollar rate, but Amor said he expects that figure to keep dropping now that the technology is available to expectant mothers in Australia.

"Out of that cost probably 50 to 100 dollars is in shipping costs so the expectation is that we should be able to further reduce the cost by bringing the test in-house." Endi