Italy is the first country in the world to have introduced screening on the entire paediatric population for type 1 diabetes mellitus and coeliac disease. It will be preceded by a preparatory pilot study in 4 regions on approximately 5,000 children aged 2, 6 and 10 years. This article gives some practical information on the screening, the reasons for its performance and reports any possible doubts, keeping in mind the Wilson and Jungner screening criteria.
