China Hosts Birth Defects Prevention Day

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y., SEPTEMBER 12, 2006 -- The March of Dimes commends the People's Republic of China for hosting its first annual Preventing Birth Defects Day on September 12, 2006.

This important milestone in the global fight against birth defects was first proposed at the 2nd International Conference on Birth Defects and Disabilities in the Developing World, which was held last September in Beijing and co-sponsored by the Ministry of Health of China, March of Dimes, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institutes of Health and other governmental and nongovernmental organizations
China's Ministry of Health, the State Council Working Committee on Women and Children, and China Disabled Persons' Federation launched a nationwide promotional to prevent birth defects called: “Healthy Baby, Happy Families.” The campaign, which features the annual Preventing Birth Defects Day, will continue through June 2007.

Recognizing and understanding a problem is the first step in combating it. By establishing an awareness day, China has taken a leadership role in the fight to reduce death and disability due to birth defects.

Every year an estimated 8 million children -- about 6 percent of total births worldwide -- are born with a serious birth defect of genetic or partly genetic origin, according to the 2006 March of Dimes Global Report on Birth Defects: The Hidden Toll of Dying and Disabled Children. At least 3.3 million children under 5 years of age die annually because of serious birth defects, the report found. The report estimated that nearly a million children are born in China with a birth defect each year.