The Need for Newborn Screening Promotion in the Philippines
Newborn Screening Promotion
The Need for the Promotion of Newborn Screening in the Philippines
As of December 2009, a total of 1,8245,540 babies were screened on four of the five diseases on the Newborn Screening (NBS) panel of disorders. The Incidence Rate (Figure 1) shows the frequency a specific confirmed genetic disease from the NBS Panel was observed throughout the population screened. The lowest incidence was recorded in PKU while the highest was in G6PD in which a total of 34,373 cases were confirmed. G6PD was also noted to have the highest prevalence with a positive patient in every fifty-one newborns. This values are expected to increase if all of the newborns will be screened.
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The Need for Newborn Screening Promotion
in the Philippines
Towards 100% Newborn
Screening Coverage
Previous
Basic Information on
Newborn Screening
Your Quick Guide to
Newborn Screening
First
Introduction
Newborn Screening in the Philippines (1996 - present)
Newborn Screening Centers
Figure 1. Incidence Rate
The need for the promotion of newborn screening in the country is further emphasized by the percentage of NBS coverage. Figure 2 shows that in a five year period (2005-2009), the national coverage grew from 8% to 28%. Still, these value indicate that a huge number of the newborns are not screened and the rate of growth in the coverage is slow. The coverage values were computed using the population base of 1.7 M. On the other hand, performance by region is presented in Figure 3. Between 2008 and 2009, all of the 17 regions showed a remarkable increase in NBS coverage. Among the 17 regions, the National Capital Region has the highest NBS coverage followed by CAR and Region VI while the lowest was noted in ARMM.
Figure 2. National Coverage
Figure 3. Regional Performance
The high incidence of out-of-facility births (Figure 4) was also suggested as a contributing factor on the low percentage coverage of NBS in the Philippines. As shown in Figure 4, ARMM showed the lowest percentage of births delivered in a health facility.
Figure 4. Births delivered in a health facility (%), by region, 2008
Source: NDHS, NSO
One of the means on alleviating the national coverage is information dissemination, especially to pregnant mothers and future parents. The creation of new NBS centers is expected to boost the NBS coverage. With the addition of NSC-Mindanao (2009) and NSC-Central Luzon (2010), NBS coverage is expected to increase in Mindanao and the northern regions of Luzon. These NBS facilities are capable of processing samples from their region and island-wide clusters. Aside from these, the training of midwives, health workers and trainors are continuously done in order to augment the NBS coverage. With these efforts, it is expected that the NBS coverage will increase in the coming years through the combined effort of the goverment, NGOs and NBS advocates.
References:
Pink brochure. Newborn Screening Reference Center - National Institutes of Health, University of the Philippines Manila. (e-mail: nbsadmin@gmail.com)
Jomento C. 2010. Maple Syrup Urine Disease Kit Evaluation. Newborn Screening (Official Publication of the Newborn Screening Reference Center NIH-UP Manila). 14(1):8.
2009 Statistics on National Coverage and Performance and Incidence Rates of NBS Genetic Disorders. Newborn Screening (Official Publication of the Newborn Screening Reference Center NIH-UP Manila). 14(1):3.