Newborn screening in the Asia Pacific region

Abstract

The success of blood spot newborn screening in the USA led to early screening efforts in parts of the Asia Pacific Region in the mid-1960s. While there were early screening leaders in the region, many of the countries with depressed and developing economies are only now beginning organized screening efforts. Four periods of screening growth in the Asia Pacific region were identified. Beginning in the 1960s, blood spot screening began in New Zealand and Australia, followed by Japan and a cord blood screening programme for G6PD deficiency in Singapore. In the 1980s, established programmes added congenital hypothyroidism and new programmes developed in Taiwan, Hong Kong, China (Shanghai), India and Malaysia. Programmes developing in the 1990s built on the experience of others developing more rapidly in Korea, Thailand and the Philippines. In the 2000s, with limited funding support from the International Atomic Energy Agency, there has been screening programme development around detection of congenital hypothyroidism in Indonesia, Mongolia, Sri Lanka, Myanmar and Pakistan. Palau has recently contracted with the Philippine newborn screening programme. There is little information available on newborn screening activities in Nepal, Cambodia, Laos and the other Pacific Island nations, with no organized screening efforts apparent. Since approximately half of the births in the world occur in the Asia Pacific Region, it is important to continue the ongoing implementation and expansion efforts so that these children can attain the same health status as children in more developed parts of the world and their full potential can be realized.

Tracking clinical genetic services for newborns identified through newborn dried bloodspot screening in the United States—lessons learned

“…NDBS program development is continuing to expand in developing countries, particularly in the Asia Pacific (Padilla and Therrell 2007;Padilla et al 2010), Middle East and North Africa (Saadallah and Rashed 2007;Krotoski et al 2009), and Latin America (Borrajo 2007), providing early identification of conditions for which timely interventions can help eliminate or reduce associated mortality, morbidity, and disabilities. NDBS systems are generally viewed as having six components that include education, screening, follow-up, diagnosis, treatment/management, and evaluation/continuous quality improvement (Therrell 2001;Pass et al 2000;Therrell et al 1992).…”

Newborn Screening for Inborn Errors of Metabolism in Mainland China: 30 Years of Experience

“…assistance from Robert Guthrie (USA) and Hiroshi Naruse (Japan), a collaborating integrated screening program was started in Shanghai in October 1981 with 14 maternity hospitals participating (Padilla and Therrell 2007). From 1992 to 1993, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Ministry of Public Health sponsored a cooperative project to pilot NBS in seven major cities (Gu and Chen 1999).…”

“…From 1992 to 1993, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Ministry of Public Health sponsored a cooperative project to pilot NBS in seven major cities (Gu and Chen 1999). Presidential Order 33 was promulgated in October 1994, and the Law of the People's Republic of China on Maternal and Infant Health Care became enforceable on June 1, 1995 (Padilla and Therrell 2007). Since 1998, laboratory quality control in neonatal screening has been carried out by the National Center for Clinical Laboratory (NCCL) (Zhan et al 2009 (Fig.…”

Metabolomics of prematurity: analysis of patterns of amino acids, enzymes, and endocrine markers by categories of gestational age

“…In Ontario and several other jurisdictions, these analytes include markers of amino acid metabolism, fatty acid oxidation, and endocrine function (3)(4)(5)(6)(7). Analyte results are used to calculate risk for rare inborn errors of metabolism and endocrine disorders.…”