Shanghai Birth Defects Primary Prevention Guidance Center

Shanghai Municipal Guidance Center for the Primary Prevention of Birth Defects

The prevention and control of birth defects are a key component of healthy reproduction and childrearing, a prerequisite for comprehensively improving population quality, and are directly related to the rise or fall of the nation. According to statistics, China is a country with a high incidence of birth defects and disabilities: approximately 200,000-300,000 babies with visible congenital malformations are born each year; when defects that become apparent only after birth are included, the total number of children with congenital disabilities reaches 800,000-1,200,000, accounting for approximately 4%-6% of the total number of births each year and showing a continuing upward trend. Under the overall coordination and leadership of the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Population and Family Planning, and based at Fudan University Affiliated Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital, the Shanghai Municipal Guidance Center for the Primary Prevention of Birth Defects was established.

The Center has an Ethics Committee and an Expert Committee. The Ethics Committee brings together medical professionals, ethics professionals, legal practitioners, and relevant non-specialists, and is responsible for consulting on and adjudicating medical ethics issues arising in the practice and research of primary prevention of birth defects; the Expert Committee consists of experts in reproductive medicine, obstetrics and gynecology, andrology, genetics, environmental medicine, public health, nutrition, psychology, and other related disciplines, and is responsible for consulting on and adjudicating technical issues arising in such practice and research. At the same time, the Center has four departments: the Technical Support Department, the Professional Training Department, the Scientific Research and Development Department, and the Preconception Counseling Department, which undertake the provision of theoretical guidance, technical support, quality control, and outcome evaluation during the formulation of strategies, establishment of procedures, and specific implementation of primary prevention of birth defects in each district and county; organize experts to compile training materials and conduct technical training; organize the development of appropriate technologies and basic research on their application; and provide further counseling, examinations, and treatment for people referred by community services, as well as referral recommendations for special populations, among other tasks.