World Birth Defects Day: According to World Health Organization data, globally an estimated 8 million newborns are born with birth defects every year.
It is important to take care of children’s health
World Birth Defects Day: Children have the right to have a healthy childhood of every child. There are many children who have some problems since birth. for how to remove it World Health Organization Has asked all the countries of the world to take steps. Poonam Khetrapal Singh, Regional Director of South East Asia of the World Health Organisation, has said that measures need to be taken before birth to remove birth defects. Concrete steps should be taken regarding this. He said that this year world birth defects day To mark the occasion, WHO is highlighting the urgent need to strengthen health systems to prevent, detect, manage and care for birth defects in countries in the WHO South-East Asia region and globally.
According to World Health Organization data, globally an estimated 8 million newborns are born with birth defects every year. Nine out of every ten babies born with severe birth defects occur in low- and middle-income countries. The most common serious birth defects are heart defects, neural tube defects, and Down syndrome, but there are many others, with many causes.
Birth defects cause death to children!
According to the WHO, child birth defects are a major cause of death in children in the South-East Asia region. Child birth defects are the third most common cause of child mortality, and the fourth most common cause of neonatal mortality, accounting for 12% of all neonatal deaths. Birth defects as a proportion of child mortality increased from 6.2% to 9.2% in the region between 2010 and 2019, and in four countries, birth defects now account for more than 20% of all under-five mortality contribute to. Birth defects contributed to at least 117 000 deaths in the region in 2019, equivalent to about 22% of the global total.
It is necessary that the government system should be alert
Since 2014, WHO has supported all countries in the region to achieve rapid, sustained reductions in maternal, neonatal and child mortality, including through targeted action to prevent, detect, manage and care for birth defects. All member states have introduced hospital-based birth defect surveillance and are implementing national action plans to prevent and manage birth defects.
Children’s data base required
Six member states – Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Myanmar and Nepal – continue to support an online database developed by WHO to better track birth defects. To date, the database has registered more than 4.7 million births in the region, including approximately 51 000 infants born with birth defects. All countries have introduced routine rubella vaccination for girls, achieving an average coverage rate of 83%. Maldives and Sri Lanka have eliminated rubella, and Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal and Timor-Leste have controlled congenital rubella syndrome.
Food fortified program should be implemented
To urgently strengthen health systems to prevent, detect, treat, care and manage birth defects, there are several priorities for the sector. First, improve the coverage and quality of preventive interventions such as rubella vaccination, quality antenatal care, and folic acid- and B12-fortified foods. Increased leadership, especially from health ministries, is needed to fully implement and monitor food fortification programmes, which must be aligned to WHO standards.
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Source: www.tv9hindi.com
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