Improving birth defect surveillance worldwide

News

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)

sSCAN Seminar - Neural Tube Defects in sub-Saharan Africa

4 October 2022

Register now at Webinar Registration - Zoom

COVID-19 and Congenital Anomalies

9 March 2022

New 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.

COVID‐19 in pregnancy—what study designs can we use to assess the risk of congenital anomalies in relation to COVID‐19 disease, treatment and vaccination? - Dolk - - Paediatric and Perinatal Epidemiology - Wiley Online Library

March 3 - 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