The Minister of Health, Mónica García, has celebrated the publication this Monday in the Official State Gazette (BOE) of a new order that extends the so-called 'heel prick test' to a total of 21 diseases and raises the maximum age for participation in the colorectal cancer screening program to 74 years.
"A decision that reinforces prevention, arrives earlier, and protects better," the head of Health has underlined during the institutional event organized for the 40th anniversary of the General Health Law.
Order SND/356/2026, of April 13, introduces significant changes in the prenatal, neonatal, and cancer screening programs of the National Health System. Firstly, the traditional 'heel prick test' is now officially called the Neonatal screening program for congenital diseases by heel prick test and now includes 21 pathologies. Among the new additions are propionic acidemia, primary carnitine deficiency, very long-chain acyl-CoA dehydrogenase deficiency, several forms of methylmalonic acidemia, isovaleric acidemia, severe combined immunodeficiency, spinal muscular atrophy, 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutáric aciduria, and X-linked adrenoleukodystrophy.
The norm also obliges to create a state-wide information system that allows monitoring and evaluating the development of the program, with an annual technical report prepared by the Ministry of Health that will be accessible both to citizens and to administrations. The autonomous communities will have one year to adapt their own programs to the new framework.
Regarding colorectal cancer, population screening is expanded and the target group is set as men and women between 50 and 74 years of age, through a fecal occult blood test every two years, aligned with European early detection recommendations. The order establishes a gradual implementation calendar, with 5 and 10-year horizons for all autonomous communities to have extended the program and achieve practically complete coverage in the 70 to 74 age group.
In the prenatal field, the order defines as population programs of the basic portfolio the screening of chromosomal abnormalities through the combined first-trimester test and, as a second line, the analysis of free fetal DNA in maternal blood. In addition, screening for infections such as syphilis, HIV, hepatitis B, and group B Streptococcus must be offered to all pregnant women, as well as tests for hepatitis C, Zika virus, Chagas, rubella, or varicella.
As a novel element, a population-based preeclampsia screening program for pregnant women is incorporated through a combined first-trimester test, which includes biochemical markers, uterine artery Doppler, and mean arterial pressure measurement. Administrations will be obliged to assess individual risk, define follow-up protocols, and implement information and evaluation systems with annual technical reports on these screenings. A two-year adaptation period from the order's entry into force is set for this program.
The standard also updates the public health annex in order to deploy the State Public Health Surveillance Network, reinforcing early warning systems and the role of Primary Care and specialized care in reporting risks within the portfolio of common public health services. Likewise, it modifies the composition of the Advisory Committee for the Common Portfolio of Services in the Area of Genetics, adding two seats representing federations or patient associations.
Finally, the rehabilitation of patients with functional deficits is redefined, orienting it towards preserving the greatest possible autonomy and quality of life, in coherence with Law 3/2024 on ALS and other high-complexity diseases.