A conference to implement a project to improve population quality bybuilding and expanding prenatal and newborn screening in 12 Mekong Deltaprovinces took place at the general hospital of the region’s Can Thocity on July 2.
According to the 2009 Populationand Housing Census, the mental and physical retardation rate in thepopulation was 1.5 percent. The rate of children suffering fromcongenital malformation in 2009 was 1.5 - 2 percent.
The project is expected to apply technological advances to detect andprevent some hereditary diseases, aiming to improve reproductive healthand population quality.
It aims to equip healthstaff with skills in consultancy and prenatal screening, and advise 80percent of expectant mothers on prenatal screening by 2015.
During the same time, it also aims to ensure that 15 percent ofexpectant mothers in the region receive prenatal screening to controldiseases and medical conditions like Down syndrome and thalassaemia, and30 percent of infants will benefit from newborn screening.
The project, costing over 55 billion VND (2.6 million USD), will becarried out by the General Office of Population and Family Planning fromnow until 2015.
At the conference, a prenatal andnewborn screening centre for the Mekong Delta region was inaugurated atCan Tho General Hospital.-VNA
