Screening and diagnosis of prenatal and neonatal diseases to provide timely intervention in the fetal and neonatal period would help children enjoy normal growth and a healthy life. (Photo: VNA)Thanh Hoa (VNS/VNA) –
Every 13 minutes a child is born with congenital anomalies in Vietnam, putting
a burden on their families and the health sector as well as affecting the
quality of the population.
The statistic was released at a
conference on the importance and benefits of and prenatal and
held on August 27.
Associate Professor Nguyen Viet
Nhan from the Hue University of Medicine and Pharmacy’s centre for prenatal and
neonatal screening said that about 1.5 million children are born in the country
each year, and between 1.5 and 3 percent suffer from congenital disorders or
malformations.
Of more than 41,000 children with
birth defects, about 1,700 children – accounting for 11 percent of the total –
do not survive. The rest struggle with birth defects for the rest of their
lives.
Nhan said to reduce the burden on
families and society, it was necessary to boost the number of prenatal and
neonatal screenings to detect, intervene and treat genetic disorders in the
fetal and neonatal stages.
Reports from the Ministry of
Health showed that the most frequent disorders are Down syndrome affecting
between 1,400 and 1,800 children, Edwards syndrome affecting about 250
children, neural tube defects affecting between 1,000 and 1,500 children, and
glucose 6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) defects affecting up to 30,000
children.
The common causes of birth
defects are genetic abnormalities, toxin exposure from the environment during
pregnancy, drug consumption by the mother during the first three months of
pregnancy and diseases contracted by the mother during pregnancy.
Le Canh Nhac, Deputy Director of
the General Office for Population and Family Planning, said screening and
diagnosis of prenatal and neonatal diseases to provide timely intervention in
the fetal and neonatal period would help children enjoy normal growth and a
healthy life.
Screenings play an irreplaceable
role in the early detection of congenital disorders and malformations for
timely interventions.
At the Hanoi-based Central
Maternity Hospital and Hue Medical and Pharmacy Hospital, 4.5 percent and 4.3 percent
of children, respectively, are found to have thanks to
pre-birth screening and diagnosis.
Dr. Luong Thi Lan Anh of Hanoi
Medical University said pre-birth screening and diagnosis must be implemented
during pregnancy, especially in the first six months. People could get access
to the service at all health clinics and hospitals.
Addressing the population quality
of Vietnam, Nhac said improvement of population quality was among the top
priorities of the ministry. However, the differences in access to healthcare
services for pregnant women in different regions remained a problem.
Nhac said the programme on
population quality and reproductive healthcare in the 2011-2030 period would
focus on consultancy and providing health check-up services for married and
pregnant women to reduce birth defects among children.
By 2030, the ministry aims to
have 70 percent of pregnant women screened for at least four of the most common
congenital diseases and 90 percent of newborns screened for at least five
congenital diseases.-VNS/VNA
Source: VietnamPlus
