Ha Noi invests $4.8m to boost prenatal screening

A doctor from the Ha Noi Hospital for Obstetrics and Gynaecology performs an ultrasound on a pregnant women to check for birth defects. — VNA/VNS Photo Duong Ngoc

HA N OI — An initiative to provide more prenatal screenings to pregnant women by 2015 has been submitted to the Ha Noi People's Committee. The project will cost the local government VND100 billion (US$4.8 million).

If women receive prenatal screenings, doctors can discover early on whether they are at risk for a particular birth defect, said Hoang Dieu Hien, deputy head of the Ha Noi Department of Population and Family Planning.

This would help reduce birth defects and improve the city's population quality, she said.

According to Hien, about VND70 billion ($3.3 million) will go into building a centre for prenatal and newborn screening at the Ha Noi's Hospital of Obstetrics and Gynaecology.

The rest of the funds would be used to train medical officials and staff and purchase equipment for prenatal screening, she said.

All local hospitals and health centres at district and commune levels now provide ultrasound-screening services for pregnant women.

The city aims to provide 90 per cent of pregnant women with prenatal screening by 2015.

Over the past year, 29 districts and 23 local hospitals have started prenatal screening programme under the National Target Programme.

More than 105,000 women received prenatal screenings, resulting in the detection of over 1,200 cases of birth defect. — VNS