136A.3  Congenital and inherited disorders — department duties.
   The department shall do all of the following:
  1.  Initiate, conduct, and supervise statewide screening programs for congenital and inherited disorders amenable to population screening.
  2.  Initiate, conduct, and supervise statewide health care programs to aid in the early detection, treatment, prevention, education, and provision of supportive care related to congenital and inherited disorders.
  3.  Develop specifications for and designate a central laboratory in which tests conducted pursuant to the screening programs provided for in subsection 1 will be performed.
  4.  Gather, evaluate, and maintain information related to causes, severity, prevention, and methods of treatment for congenital and inherited disorders in conjunction with a central registry, screening programs, genetic health care programs, and ongoing scientific investigations and surveys.
  5.  Perform surveillance and monitoring of congenital and inherited disorders to determine the occurrence and trends of the disorders, to conduct thorough and complete epidemiological surveys, to assist in the planning for and provision of services to children with congenital and inherited disorders and their families, and to identify environmental and genetic risk factors for congenital and inherited disorders.
  6.  Provide information related to severity, causes, prevention, and methods of treatment for congenital and inherited disorders to the public, medical and scientific communities, and health science disciplines.
  7.  Implement public education programs, continuing education programs for health practitioners, and education programs for trainees of the health science disciplines related to genetics, congenital disorders, and inheritable disorders.
  8.  Participate in policy development to assure the appropriate use and confidentiality of genetic information and technologies to improve health and prevent disease.
  9.  Collaborate with state and local health agencies and other public and private organizations to provide education, intervention, and treatment for congenital and inherited disorders and to integrate genetics and genomics advances into public health activities and policies.
2004 Acts, ch 1031, §4, 12; 2023 Acts, ch 19, §200
Referred to in §136A.5B