“Every child deserves the best chance for a healthy future” was the theme of the inspiring story shared by Hon. Budi Gunadi Sadikin, minister of health of the Republic of Indonesia, during a welcome dinner on September 2, 2024, for the participants of the 7th Workshop on Consolidating Newborn Screening Efforts in the Asia Pacific Region.
The three-day workshop was held at the Dusit Princess Hotel in Kathmandu, Nepal and organized by the Newborn Screening Reference Center (NSRC) in partnership with the Asia Pacific Society for Human Genetics (APSHG). Since 2008, NSRC has been serving as the secretariat to the workshops that gather newborn screening champions from different countries in the Asia Pacific region.
This year, country representatives from Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Laos, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, and Vietnam have expressed commitment to working with the government, non-government, and private organizations for the expansion and sustainability of the newborn screening program in their respective countries.
During the welcome night, workshop convenors, Dr. Carmencita Padilla [PH], and Dr. Bradford Therrell, Jr, [US] welcomed the attendees and facilitated the sessions. Inspirational messages and stories were shared by Minister Sadikin; Hon. Teodoro Herbosa, secretary of the Department of Health Philippines; Brian Chung, president of the APSHG; and Anshu Banerjee, director of the Department of Maternal, Newborn, Child, and Adolescent Health and Ageing at the World Health Organization (WHO).
Minister Sadikin recognized the critical role of regional collaboration to achieve equitable outcomes for all newborns. He believed that this workshop was essential to the collaborative effort to enhance infant health. He expressed hope that the workshop will strengthen collaboration and spark innovative solutions for the challenges faced by the countries in the region.
Sec. Herbosa expressed his gratitude to the Philippines’ neighbors in the Asia-Pacific for going above and beyond to share their experiences, development, knowledge, and skills to foster growth and advance newborn screening in the region. He stressed that the Philippines will continue collaborating with its neighbors to find new ways to screen newborns as part of its commitment to helping them and building partnerships for a healthy future.
Pres. Chung shared that their solidarity stands strong in support of newborn screening and all related training and education activities. He mentioned their continued commitment to integrating professional development and public education into all areas of human genetics, from birth defects to rare diseases and all other medical conditions that have genetic predispositions.
Director Banerjee acknowledged that the workshop underscored the critical importance of comprehensive newborn screening and safeguarding the health of the youngest and most vulnerable segment of the society. He stressed that this workshop was not only timely but essential as it is aligned with the recent advancements in global health policy, particularly the outcomes of the 77th World Health Assembly.
Participants for this year’s workshop got the opportunity to provide updates on screening data along with their own program implementation experiences during the three-day session. Issues on implementation, sustainability, and expansion in their respective countries were also discussed. All participating countries presented and talked about potential solutions they had identified for handling laboratory, administrative, and other challenges (including policies) that the program implementers faced.
Common issues like involving the government, expanding the program, securing funds, and setting up systems were also covered. The participants received guidance and advice from Dr. Padilla and Dr. Therrell regarding potential strategies to enhance their action plans for the next three years. As part of the activity, the practices and experiences from the US and the Philippines were also shared for potential adoption by other countries.
Following the conclusion of the most recent workshop in Kathmandu, the eleven participating countries agreed to adopt the commitments made in the Kathmandu Declaration:
- Continue regionalization and cooperation among countries by sharing expertise, information, and other resources in the implementation of universal newborn bloodspot screening.
- Continue working towards legislation and/or policy development within the Ministry of Health.
- Continue developing population studies to determine the incidence of genetic disorders in the region.
- Identify creative funding mechanisms such as inclusion in maternal/newborn/child benefit packages, health/social insurance, or other sources.
- Develop strategies to involve more health facilities in the program.
- Strengthen collaboration within the region.
- Work towards the improvement of the system and operations
- Increase awareness through development of culturally sensitive advocacy materials, and dissemination through various channels
- Improve access to and utilization of electronic data management systems in support of newborn bloodspot screening, and
- Appropriate documentation of satisfactory progress in completing all of the above items.
VGMendoza
