“I pledge the full support of the DOH for 100% coverage of newborn screening as we work together on delivering on our promise for quality healthcare for our people.”
This is the commitment made by Health Secretary Francisco Duque in a speech delivered by Assistant Health Secretary Maria Rosario Vergeire during the 16th Annual Newborn Screening Convention held at the Philippine International Convention Center, Pasay City, on October 8-9, 2018, a few days after the celebration of the National Newborn Screening Week.
Duque announced the bold commitments made by DOH to attain the following targets by 2030: at least 95% national coverage of the expanded newborn screening and 100% coverage of the enhanced Newborn Care Package to include ENBS as approved by the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation, Inc (PHIC) Board.
Dr. Mary Antonette Yason-Remonte, Millennium Development Goals Team Leader of the PHIC, seconded the announcement. According to Remonte, since the launching of the PHIC Newborn Care Package in 2006, many newborns have been receiving health services namely essential newborn care, birth doses of BCG and Hepatitis B vaccine, and newborn screening and hearing tests. She stated that through the years, PHIC has implemented several mechanisms to increase the access of newborns to health services. In line with PHIC’s role in achieving the goals of Universal Health Care, she happily announced that PHIC is currently drafting the guidelines to expand the services covered by the Newborn Care Package.
Themed “ENBS: A Recommitment to Saving Lives,” this year’s National Newborn Screening Convention gathered around 2000 health professionals and newborn screening advocates from across the country. It was organized by the Newborn Screening Society of the Philippines, Inc. (NSSPI) and the Newborn Screening Reference Center (NSRC), National Institutes of Health, University of the Philippines Manila.
The National Convention, held every year in October, convenes participants from different health professions i.e., doctors, nurses, midwives, medical technologists, and hospital administrators, to learn from local and international experts, program consultants, and implementers.
This year’s convention was a huge success in terms of attendance and in meeting its goal of serving as an excellent opportunity to reignite commitment to saving Filipino babies from mental retardation and death. The two-day convention, headed by NSSPI President Ephraim Neal Orteza and Over-all Chair Dr. Maria Melanie Liberty Alcausin, offered participants a total of 14 plenary sessions and two simultaneous presentations.
Following Orteza’s welcome remarks, National Institutes of Health (NIH) Executive Director Eva Cutiongco-de la Paz delivered a special message affirming the commitment of NIH to the newborn screening program through relevant researches to improve the screening and management of newborns with metabolic and genetic disorders in the country.
Five plenary sessions kicked off the convention. Orteza presented the status of newborn screening in the country while posting some challenges to be addressed by the program. Disease Prevention and Control Bureau OIC-Director Rodolfo Antonio Albornoz revealed the NBS roadmap, highlighting the Strategic Framework for Newborn Screening for the next 13 years. Part of this was Remonte’s presentation of the proposed expanded services of the PHIC’s Newborn Care Package.
Ma. Elouisa Reyes, Program Support Unit Head, discussed the role of the Newborn Screening Reference Center of the UPM-NIH as technical arm of the DOH in the newborn screening program. The mechanisms for implementing the newborn screening policies by the different program stakeholders were presented by Dr. Renilyn Reyes, Western Visayas Regional Newborn Screening Program Manager for the DOH Regional Offices; Cardinal Santos Medical Center NBS Coordinator Cynthia Marissa Clemente for Newborn Screening Facilities; Newborn Screening Center – National Institutes of Health Unit Head Dr. Anna Lea Elizaga for Newborn Screening Centers; and NSRC Long Term Follow up Coordinator Alcausin for NBS Continuity Clinics.
Day two of the convention featured sets of plenary and simultaneous sessions. UP Manila Chancellor and NSSPI Founding President Dr. Carmencita Padilla gave a brief overview of Newborn Screening worldwide, including recent trends and developments in Asia, and its expansion in the United States. Newborn Foundation Chief Executive Officer Annamarie Saarinen shared her advocacy on screening babies for critical congenital heart diseases (CCHD) via pulse oximetry. She presented the trends on (CCHD) and shared the advantages of screening.
The rest of the plenary sessions focused on the following disorders included in the newborn screening panel: Glucose-6-Phosphate Dehydrogenase Deficiency (G6PD), Alpha Thalassemia, Fatty Acid Disorders, Amino Acid Disorders, and Organic Acid Disorders. The presentations were made by Dr. Maria Beatriz Gepte, G6PD Deficiency Expert Committee Chair; Dr. Reynaldo de Castro, Hemoglobinopathies Expert Committee Chair; Dr. Mary Ann Abacan, Metabolic Disorders Expert Committee Member; Dr. Leniza de Castro-Hamoy, Geneticist at the Institute of Human Genetics; and Dr. Mary Anne Chiong, Metabolic Disorders Expert Committee Chair, respectively.
In the afternoon, the convention featured breakout sessions on the following topics: Administrative Management in Newborn Screening by NSRC Quality Assurance Consultant Dr. Florencio Dizon and and NSC-Visayas Program Manager Yugie Caroline Demegillo; Enhancing Newborn Screening through Prompt Confirmation of Screened Positive Cases in Cordillera Administrative Region by Dizon and Ensuring Quality Testing in the Laboratory by NSC-Central Luzon Laboratory Manager Jerome R. Comelio; and actual cases encountered at the short-term follow up level by NSRC Consultant Dr. Sylvia Estrada and long-term follow-up level by Alcausin.
Succeeding plenary session presenters included Dr. Karen June Ventilacion, Region 6 Newborn Screening Continuity Clinic Follow up Head who emphasized the need to improve recall rate and compliance to treatment, monitor physical growth, do more Parent’s Evaluation of Development Status (PEDS) surveillance, and gather more data among patients eligible for school.
The last three sessions included a talk by Dr. Anthony Calibo, OIC-Division Chief, Children’s Health Development Division, DPCB-DOH, on the integration of ENBS and Rare Disease in Child Health and Nutrition Programs. He emphasized that global and national documents exist to address the rights of children, including children with disabilities. He stressed that the health managers, health and nutrition service providers and child development workers have the responsibility of ensuring an integrated approach to deliver the services for infants, children, and adolescents.
Padilla updated the audience about the Rare Disease Act, which was enacted in 2016. She shared the highlights of the law and updated the crowd on the plans to set up 14 Rare Disease Centers nationwide that will include a team composed of clinical geneticists, pediatrician/family physician, genetic counselors, nurse, and dietitian.
Remonte discussed the new benefit packages from PhilHealth including the recently implemented Expanded Primary Care Benefit and the enhanced Newborn Care Package. She stated that the package for rare diseases is on the pipeline of PHIC. It is stipulated in the Rare Diseases Act, or Republic Act 14707, that a basic benefit package will be given by PHIC that is currently looking into the finalized standards and costing of services.
The convention left the attendees and participants with vast knowledge and ideas on how to improve newborn screening implementation in their localities.
Drs. Barbra Cavan, Bernadette Mendoza, April Grace Berboso, Conchita Abarquez and Kristin Grace Gonzalez moderated the sessions. Orteza officially thanked the sponsors, organizing committee members, program partners and participants that made the convention a success. He expressed optimism and looks forward to the implementation of the expansion of Newborn Care Package before the end of 2018.#
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MEDIA RELEASE
Newborn Screening Convention
c/o Newborn Screening Reference Center-NIH, UP Manila / Newborn Screening Society of the Philippines
Newborn Screening Convention
c/o Newborn Screening Reference Center-NIH, UP Manila / Newborn Screening Society of the Philippines
Published in the Philippine Star
14 October 2018
14 October 2018
