cells from gradually dying. the now healthy motor neuron cells start producing the missing smn protein, which is vital for muscle function. evelina children s hospital in london is one of a handful of centres in the uk which will offer this groundbreaking gene therapy. 20 years ago, a baby born with a severe form of sma would have a very shortened life expectancy. we can now offer treatment that can really alter the outlook for these children. edward is eight months old. his parents hope he will be eligible for zolgensma, but they know the longer the treatment is delayed, the less effective it is. for his quality of life and how long his life could be, zolgensma isjust a game changer. and we re just kind of patiently waiting, we ve been waiting since last november, for zolgensma. some other infants treated with zolgensma have seen
lift their head and by then, permanent damage is done. several countries like southern belgium, poland, much of the united states have newborn screening and we have newborn screening here but sma is not included in that so a lot of pressure is now from charities and doctors to add sma as part of the heel prick blood test that all newborn babies are offered so this condition could be picked up early and treated as soon as possible. fergus, thank you. a dedicated terminal has opened at heathrow airport for people arriving on a flight from any of the 43 countries on the government s red list . it comes after anger that people coming in from high risk covid countries were being made to queue with other passengers. our transport correspondent caroline davies reports. when international travel restarted last month, some could not wait to get away. but while this was the