The pace of preventing these serious birth defects can be accelerated if more countries require fortification of both wheat and maize flour and if regulators set fortification levels high enough to increase a woman's daily average consumption of folic acid to 400 mcg.

ABSTRACT. Context. Preventing loss of vaccine potency during storage and handling is increasingly important as new, more expensive vaccines are introduced, in at least 1 case requiring a different approach to storage. Little information is available about the extent to which staff in private physicians' offices meet quality assurance needs for vaccines or have the necessary equipment. Although the National Immunization Program at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in 1997 developed a draft manual to promote reliable vaccine storage and to supplement published information already available from the CDC and the American Academy of Pediatrics, the best ways to improve vaccine storage and handling have not been defined.Objectives. To estimate the statewide prevalence of offices with suboptimal storage and handling, to identify the risk factors for suboptimal situations in the offices of private physicians, and to evaluate whether the distribution of a new National Immunization Program draft manual improved storage and handling practices.Design. Population-based survey, including site visits to a stratified, random sample of consenting private physicians' offices. At least 2 months before the site visits, nearly half (intervention group) of the offices were randomly selected to receive a draft CDC manual entitled, "Guideline for Vaccine Storage and Handling." The remainder was considered the control group. Trained graduate students conducted site visits, all being blinded to whether offices were in the intervention or control groups. Each site visit included measurements of refrigerator and freezer temperatures with digital thermometers (Digi-thermo, Model 15-077-8B, Control Company, Friendswood, TX; specified accuracy ؎ 1°C). Their metaltipped probes were left in the center shelf of cold storage compartments for at least 20 minutes to allow them to stabilize. The type of refrigerator/freezer unit, temperature-monitoring equipment, and records were noted, as were the locations of vaccines in refrigerator and freezer, and the presence of expired vaccines. Other information collected included the following: staff training, use of written guidelines, receipt of vaccine deliveries, management of problems, number of patients, type of office, type of medical specialty, and the professional educational level of the individual designated as vaccine coordinator. Offices that adhered to daily temperature monitoring for all vaccine cold storage compartments, compared with those that did not, were 2 to 3 times more likely to assign this task to staff with higher levels of training, have received a recent visit from the state immunization program, and be affiliated with a hospital or have Federally Qualified Health Center status. In addition, sites using >1 refrigerator/freezer for vaccine storage were more likely to have at least 1 cold storage compartment outside recommended temperature ranges. We found no significant differences in the data reported above between the intervention group (received copy of the d...

We estimate an increasing prevention of FAPSBA in the world through folic acid fortification, yet the pace is slow. Our new model estimates that only 25% prevention and reminds us that there remains a lot of work to do in countries that do not implement mandatory fortification, which is key to achieving global and total prevention. If we are to prevent all FAPSBA, there is an urgent need to build the global political will to find sufficient resources to aid in this effort.

With some modifications, this document could be utilized in other countries considering fortification of flour or other staple products with folic acid.

Professional researchers and clinicians can help combat this situation by becoming advocates for child health in their respective countries.

BACKGROUND:In April of 2003, The Micronutrient Initiative, in collaboration with several other organizations, convened a group of knowledgeable scientists and policy experts to discuss ways to accelerate the global pace at which countries implement effective and sustainable programs to prevent folic acid-preventable birth defects and other folate-deficiency diseases. Programs implemented to date by fewer than 40 countries have prevented only 10% of the estimated 240,000 annual cases of folic acid-preventable spina bifida and anencephaly. METHODS: Participants in this meeting summarized and presented scientific evidence showing that increased consumption of synthetic folic acid prevents a large proportion of spina bifida and anencephaly cases. They also reviewed related guidance and endorsements issued by national professional societies and advisory bodies as well as policies and programs implemented by some countries that have already demonstrated successful results in terms of reduced rates of neural tube defects and improved folate nutrition. CONCLUSIONS: The group formulated and discussed recommendations and strategies for increasing the pace of neural tube defect prevention globally. The recommendations and strategies are published here.

This is an invited editorial that praises the idea of serumlred cell folate monitoring of the elimination of folic acid-preventable spina bifida.

No abstract