News
Launch of the RELAMC Website
26 July 2023
A launch event was held on July 3, 2023 for the RELAMC website www.relamc.org
RELAMC is the Latin American network for congenital anomaly surveillance.
The website describes the network and the member registries, allows the user to obtain publicly available prevalence data tables, and provides the platform for data submission for member registries.
The launch event was co-organised by RELAMC and the Coordenação-Geral de Informações e Análises Epidemiológicas, Ministério da Saúde, Brazil. Speakers included Ieda Orioli, Theresa Diaz, Helen Dolk, Boris Groisman, Guillermo Macías, Marli Souza Rocha, Jorge López Camelo and Ignacio Zarante.
Congratulations to RELAMC for this milestone!
International Conference for Birth Defects in Developing Countries, Chile, March 2023
3 March 2023
Caroline Osoro (pictured) talked to new users about the use of the Global Birth Defects app, and how the MiMBA project has added an expert review platform which is now available to all users.
Emma Kalk, Caroline Osoro, Robert Serunjogi and Modiegi Diseko (pictured) represented the new SubSaharan Congenital Anomalies Network (sSCAN).
BRAZIL CONDUCTS NATIONWIDE TRAINING USING THE GLOBAL BIRTH DEFECTS APP
29 November 2022
Congenital anomalies are now the leading cause of infant death in Brazil. To tackle this problem, the public health focus must be on preventing congenital anomalies where possible, and providing excellent care to promote survival and reduce disability. The Brazilian Ministry of Health is embarking on a nationwide training program of workshops to improve the diagnosis and reporting of congenital anomalies to the health surveillance system, working in partnership with birth defect experts such as Prof Lavinia Schuler-Faccini. These workshops use the Global Birth Defects app (Um guia para instalar e utilizar o aplicativo Global Birth Defects • Global Birth Defects (tghn.org), as well as other resources that have been created to support birth defect diagnosis, prevention and care [Congenital Anomalies - Integrated Health Surveillance Platform - Ministry of Health (saude.gov.br)
COVID-19 and Congenital Anomalies
9 March 2022
Methodological publication
Most pregnancy research related to the COVID-19 pandemic, whether the disease, its treatment, or vaccines, has concerned second and third trimester exposures. This paper investigates how we can generate more high-quality evidence about the adverse effects of periconceptional and first trimester exposures, specifically in relation to congenital anomalies.
March 3 2022 - World Birth Defects Day
3 March 2022
All over the world, organisations and individuals are coming together to show their support for preventing deaths and improving lives affected by birth defects.
More than 5 million babies are born each year with birth defects (congenital anomalies), the vast majority in low and middle income countries.
If we are to meet the sustainable development goals by 2030, in particular in relation to ending preventable deaths of newborns and children under five years of age (sdg3.2), and achieving universal health coverage and access to high quality essential health care services (sdg3.8), then each country must have a clear strategy to address birth defects.
ask your ministry of health, what is its strategy to:
- Prevent birth defects
- Improve diagnosis and care of all individuals with any birth defect and related disabilities
- Increase knowledge of the prevalence and causes of birth defects through epidemiologic and basic research
On the global birth defects website, we are happy to offer you an inventory of many freely available sources of information. If you would like to add others, please contact us at globalbirthdefects@tghn.org