WHO has recommended health facilities should better connect with community-based networks, platforms and organizations, which should in turn empower affected families to access services and support, including social protection.

South-East Asian countries have launched four initiatives to urgently strengthen health systems to prevent, detect, treat, care for and manage birth defects, the WHO said in a statement on the occasion of World Birth Defects Day on March 3.

First, improving the coverage and quality of preventive interventions such as rubella immunization, quality antenatal care and folic acid- and B12-fortified foods.

“Increased leadership is especially needed from ministries of health to fully implement and monitor food fortification programmes, which should be aligned with WHO standards,” the WHO statement said..

Second, enhancing health system capacities to detect, treat and care for birth defects, with a focus on adapting new WHO guidance on universal screening of newborns for hearing impairment and eye abnormalities.

To achieve this, WHO has urged these countries to integrate a series of simple bedside tests into existing postnatal health care services, which must be supported by effective systems for referral, diagnosis, management and follow up.

Third, sustaining and expanding surveillance and improving data systems, with a focus on strengthening not just coverage and quality, but analysis and application.

Data that are of adequate quality, and which are regularly analyzed, must actively inform advocacy for resource mobilization, and also support ongoing capacity building and programme monitoring, WHO stressed.

And fourth, increasing support for parents and caregivers for early childhood development and to improve disability care. For this, WHO has recommended, health facilities should better connect with community-based networks, platforms and organizations, which should in turn empower affected families to access services and support, including social protection.

WHO’s South-East Asia Region comprises the following 11 member states: Bangladesh, Bhutan, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, India, Indonesia, Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Timor-Leste.

Globally, an estimated 8 million children are born with a birth defect every year, according to WHO data.

In South-East Asia, the WHO added, birth defects are the third most common cause of child mortality, and the fourth most common cause of neonatal mortality, accounting for 12 percent of all neonatal deaths.

Also Read: Birth defects are third most common cause of child mortality in South-East Asia: WHO