October 30, 2021 — The Newborn Screening Society of the Philippines, Inc. (NSSPI) and the University of the Philippines (UP) Manila, through the Newborn Screening Reference Center (NSRC), kicked off the virtual 19th National Newborn Screening Convention on Oct. 5 with the theme: “Towards a Smart Expanded Newborn Screening Program.”
The three-day event, coinciding with the observance of the Newborn Screening Week, weaved together talks on the basics of expanded newborn screening, ethics and legal issues, updates and innovations, and efforts for digital transformation along with stories from different program implementers on successfully carrying through the newborn screening services in the middle of the pandemic.
Around 7,300 registered health professionals, advocates, students, researchers, and program partners were in attendance, led byNSSPI President Dr. Rizalina Racquel Gonzaleswho opened the convention.
In her keynote address, Department of Health (DOH) Undersecretary Rosario Vergeire recalled the history of newborn screening from being a pilot project in 1996 to its eventual incorporation into the roster of DOH-led programs. Vergeire commended the program implementers and other stakeholders for their ability to cope and adjust amid the challenges of the pandemic.
“A Smart Expanded Newborn Screening does not have to refer to advanced technologies and highlevel devices, but a theme that is geared towards one mission; that is to ensure that all Filipino children will have access to and will avail of total quality care for optimal growth and development of their full potential. This theme, as we stood in the pandemic and natural disasters, [yet] this program continues to prosper and save Filipino newborns since 1996,” said Vergerie.
The three-day event featured five pre-convention lectures on the basics of expanded newborn screening (ENBS) and the main convention’s 12 plenary sessions covering pertinent issues and updates in screening programs. Pre-convention resource persons included Dr. Sylvia C. Estrada, Short-Term Follow-up National Coordinator; Dr. Ma. Paz Virginia K. Otayza, Newborn Screening Center – Northern Luzon Unit Head; Dr. Bernadette HaliliMendoza, Newborn Screening Center Central Luzon Unit Head; Dr. Alma M. Panganiban-Andal, Newborn Screening CenterSouthern Luzon Unit Head; and Dr. Anna Lea G. Elizaga, NIH Newborn Screening Center Head.
The speakers provided information on The Philippine Newborn Screening Program, Overview of the ENBS Disorders, Proper Dried Blood Spot Collection, Timeliness of Newborn Screening, and Short-Term and Long-Term Follow-up Care. They underscored the importance of effective communication; timeliness of screening; and confirmatory, assessment, and management or treatment of the affected newborns.
Also featured were other screening programs in children, specifically Newborn Hearing Screening, Pulse Oximeter Screening for Critical Congenital Heart Disease, and Vision Screening presented by UP College of Medicine Dean Charlotte Chiong, UP-PGH Program Director Dr. Jose Jonas D. del Rosario, and Philippine Eye Research Institute Director Dr. Leo Cubillan, respectively
Vina Mendoza (NSRC)
Published in UP Manila Healthscape Issue No. 32, 31 October 2021
