Seminar emphasises newborn screening tests in treating congenital defects

Hanoi (VNA) - A national seminar in Hanoi on August 4 has underlined newborn screening tests as an effective tool to treat congenital metabolism disorders.

At present, around 500 types of congenital metabolism errors have been
identified and one out of every 1,500 children is born with the disorder.
However, the issue is still new in Vietnam and the mortality rate among
affected children is high due to late detection, the seminar said.

Only 24 provinces and cities nationwide have implemented newborn screening
programmes and the tests only cover congenital thyroid failure and
glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) deficiency.

According to a survey conducted by the National Hospital of Paediatrics in
2005, the rate of congenital metabolism disorder among hospitalised children
stood at 11.9 percent.

The seminar, jointly held by the National Hospital of Paediatrics and the
US Mead Johnson Company, aimed to figure out the rate of children affected
by inborn metabolism disorders through screening high-risk groups and
improve local doctors' ability to diagnose and treat the disorders.-Enditem