During a visit to Havana, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, Speaker of the Iranian Parliament, presented four advanced Iranian nuclear medicine diagnostic kits to Miguel Mario Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, President of Cuba. These kits, symbolizing the capabilities of Iranian scientists, are designed to diagnose rare and complex diseases, including 58 types of metabolic disorders in newborns.
Among the kits gifted was the PH NBS-D kit, an internationally standardized neonatal metabolic screening tool capable of early detection of over 58 metabolic conditions in infants. This diagnostic kit, marketed under the brand name PH NBS, has been developed and manufactured by Iranian pharmaceutical and nuclear medicine experts.
Newborn screening plays a vital role in the early detection of congenital metabolic disorders, enabling the prevention of serious physical and intellectual disabilities. These disorders include amino acid metabolism defects, such as phenylketonuria (PKU) and maple syrup urine disease (MSUD), as well as disorders affecting fatty acid and organic acid metabolism.
Failure to diagnose and treat these conditions promptly can lead to irreversible damage to various organs and cause complications such as motor disabilities, intellectual delay, malnutrition, speech impairment, and more.
Today, the most effective method for newborn screening is mass spectrometry, which can identify a wide range of metabolic defects with high precision in less than two minutes. Most countries, including Iran, now utilize this advanced technology.