The Health Department’s newborn screening programme in which all babies born in government hospitals undergo mandatory screening for four congenital metabolic disorders, which can have long-term and irreversible developmental outcomes, has emerged as one of the most innovative and well-managed programmes to have been taken up by the department.
The programme was selected the top innovation in the area of child health in the country at the on-going National Summit on Good and Replicable Practices and Innovations in Public Healthcare System in India, being organised by the Union Ministry of Health & Family Welfare. The programme was launched by the State in September 2012.
Under the programme, babies are screened for four metabolic disorders — congenital hypothyroidism, phenylketonuria, congenital adrenal hyperplasia, and Glucose 6 phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency.
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“Of the 1.4 lakh newborns we screened so far, 70 babies were found to be having congenital hypothyroidism, two had congenital adrenal hyperplasia, while nine had G6PD deficiency.
All of them are currently being treated and regularly monitored by district-level committees.
This is a programme which has received a lot of support from the government and the medical fraternity,” says S. Sunija, Director of the State Public Health Lab, who has been coordinating the programme. The programme is currently on in 44 selected government hospitals which register an estimated 100 childbirths a month each. Although about 5.5 lakh births are reported in the State annually, only 1.5 lakh babies are born in public sector hospitals.
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Though many private hospitals are already screening children for CH, the State government or the Union Health Ministry are yet to make this test mandatory. Blood samples are collected from babies within 48 to 72 hours of birth and are tested using the Elisa method in the four regional public health laboratories in Thiruvananthapuram, Ernakulam, Kozhikode, and Kannur.