181,865 Vietnamese Kids Benefit Newborn Screening Programs

The Vietnamese Ministry of Health (MoH) has provided newborn screening services for 181,865 infants in 30 localities nationwide since 2007, said a MoH official. Tran Mai Hoa, deputy head of the MoH’s General Department of Population and Family Planning made announcement at a meeting to review a project on building and expanding newborn screening systems between 2007 and 2010. Of the total, 38,437 newborns have benefited from prenatal screening programs and the rest from postnatal screening services. Under the programs, a total of 2,767 infants have been founded lacking G6PD enzyme and 17 others have suffered from innate thyroid gland failure. Hoa attributed that disabled people account for 7.2% of the total national population, many of who are children with disability and deformities.
If newborn screening programs and pre-marriage counseling are implemented well, the number of children with birth defects will be reduced considerably, she added. Between 1.5% and 3% of Vietnamese children reportedly suffers from genetic birth defects.  The country has around 1.6 million newborn babies per year. (Suc Khoe & Doi Song – Health & Life Dec 23 p2, Ha Noi Moi – New Hanoi Dec 23 p5)