WHO South-East Asia chief stresses need to address birth defects; calls for enhanced health system, better coverage

World Birth Defects Day, marked annually on March 3, aims to raise awareness about prevention programs and improving the quality of services and care received by people with congenital anomalies, disorders or conditions.

Wajed said that WHO aims to raise awareness about prevention programs and improving the quality of services and care received by people.

"We aim to raise awareness about prevention programs and improving the quality of services and care received by people with congenital anomalies, disorders or conditions. This year, WHO is highlighting the urgent need for countries to raise awareness about birth defects and strengthen health systems' response to the specific health, development, and psychosocial needs of this population. This is coupled with the need for actions to prevent, detect and manage these congenital anomalies," she said in a statement.

"Birth defects have a significant impact on the quality of life of an individual and place considerable burden on the families, community, society and the health-care systems. While genetics plays a major role in their ethology, many birth defects are preventable through health system interventions (rubella vaccination, identification and management of sexually transmitted infections in pregnancy, etc.) and by addressing environmental factors such as exposure to pollutants, lifestyle choices and socioeconomic conditions that affect pregnant women and fetuses," she added.

The WHO SouthEast Asia chief pointed out that in the past two decades, birth defects are now the third most common cause of death among under-5 children in the region and around 300 deaths are recorded every day.

"During the past two decades, the contribution of birth defects to the cause of death among under-5 children has increased from 3.9% to 11.5% in our region. Birth defects are now the third most common cause of death (11%) among under-5 children in our region - approximately 300 every day. Additionally, they cause severe morbidity, which is usually ignored or not highlighted. Since 2014, WHO has supported all countries of the region to adopt integrated approaches for prevention, detection, management and care for birth defects. This is through collaborative actions across different national programmes for reproductive, maternal, new-born, child and adolescent health; immunization; nutrition; no communicable diseases; and other related programmes," Wajed said.

Elaborating on the enhanced health coverage, she further said that now pregnant women receive counselling to avoid potentially harmful medications, and basic services for the management of birth defects are also available in most countries. However, access to advanced treatments, rehabilitation and support for affected babies and families remains limited.

"This has resulted in increased coverage of pre-conception folic acid supplementation, enhanced coverage of routine childhood rubella vaccination, introduction of various food fortification programmes, and establishment of a hospital-based online surveillance system (known as the SEAR New-born Birth Defects database). Across the Region, pregnant women receive counselling to avoid potentially harmful medications, X-rays, tobacco products, alcohol and drugs. Basic services for the management of birth defects are available in most countries. However, access to advanced treatments, rehabilitation and support for affected babies and families is limited, and access to screening is sub-optimal. A strong focus on birth defects is supported by our Regional Roadmap for Results and Resilience, which calls for reaffirming investment in women, girls, adolescents and vulnerable populations," she said.

The WHO South-East Asia chief further stressed that the countries need to prioritize birth defects, enhance the health system capacity for early detection, recognize the challenges and reduce the burden of parents and caregivers and also improve the coverage and quality of preventive interventions.

Stating identified priorities for the region, the statement added," First, countries need to prioritize birth defects high on their agenda, mobilize commitment and leadership at both policy and programme levels, with commensurate financial allocations. Second, enhance the health system capacity for early detection and management by introducing and scaling-up tests for new-born screening of birth defects and other conditions. The regional implementation document developed last year for universal new-born screening of hearing impairment, eye abnormalities, and neonatal hyperbilirubinemia guides how to integrate simple tests within the existing health system," Wajed said.

She added, "Third, efforts should be directed towards recognizing the challenges and reducing the burden of parents, caregivers and families of children with birth defects. Countries must work together with partners, community-based networks, academic and research institutes, and organizations to enable access to services and support, including social protection. Fourth, improving the coverage and quality of preventive interventions such as rubella immunization, food fortification and quality pre-conception and antenatal care is imperative. Finally, countries need to invest in establishing or strengthening their birth defect surveillance systems - with a particular focus on improving the availability, analysis and utilization of relevant data for programmatic decision-making." (ANI)