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The World Health Organisation has called on countries worldwide to scale up newborn screening programmes, warning that early detection and treatment of birth defects could prevent millions of deaths and reduce lifelong disabilities.
WHO Director-General, Dr Tedros Ghebreyesus, made the appeal on Tuesday while presenting a new report focused on newborn screening as a key intervention for improving child survival and health outcomes.
A report on the agency’s website confirmed the development.
According to Ghebreyesus, the report highlights the strengthening of newborn screening, diagnosis and management of birth defects as a major opportunity to improve child survival globally.
“Birth defects now account for almost 8 per cent of all deaths among children under five. More than 90 per cent of children born with serious birth defects live in low- and middle-income countries,” he said.
He added that about eight million babies are born with birth defects every year worldwide, stressing the need for improved screening systems and timely treatment, noting that access to screening and treatment remains limited in many countries, despite evidence that early detection significantly improves health outcomes.
The WHO chief identified conditions such as congenital hypothyroidism, sickle-cell disease, hearing impairment and certain metabolic disorders as treatable when detected early through screening.
Ghebreyesus said countries should prioritise conditions based on their disease burden and expand screening programmes gradually as capacity improves, and urged governments to integrate newborn screening into routine healthcare and universal health coverage systems.
