“Congenital Differences” in Thua Thien Hue Province, Vietnam.

1. PRACTICE - FOLIC ACID USE “Congenital Differences” in Thua Thien Hue Province, Vietnam. The project period from 2008-2011 is ongoing in ThuaThien Hue province with one pilot district. Many achievements were obtained, particularly in prevention and early detection of birth defects. There is a need to extend the activities to other districts of the province and even to the other nearby provinces. The extension of the project from 2012 to 2013 will focus on strengthening the activities related to prevention of birth defects which have been covered in the project during 2008-2011. The prevention activities will be based on the folic acid information campaign that will be carried out in other remaining districts of the province. We will also add education regarding rubella vaccination for young women Introduction Photo or picture The general objective: To improve the population's quality of life by reducing the number of preventable disabilities, and minimizing the impact of congenital defects among children The specific objective: This is in the Log frame: Health staff and the community is educated about preventable congenital defects and the impact will be minimized among children of ThuaThien Hue province through the development of a reproducible model for the prevention, early detection, referral, and intervention of common congenital differences. Objective The project is based on the capacity building of several actors involved, through the coordination of the operational partner: the Office of Genetic Counseling & Disabled Children (OGCDC), which is mandated to support children with congenital defects through information campaigns, training, individual support and school integration. Decentralisation to the lower levels is the most important approach to improve the capacity of the health staff at the district as well as grassroots levels. Furthermore, the core group of trainers at the provincial level is necessary to ensure sustainability in training to the district and commune level. Method Percentage of women taking folic acid Title The table shows the level of understanding on early detection of common congenital birth defects was different among the 9 districts of the province. At baseline, HuongTra had the lowest numbers of participants answer correctly and PhongDien district the highest. Post-training test improvements also varied, with HuongThuy, QuangDien and A Luoi districts demonstrating more .more. Title Results After training, the percentage of women taking folic acid increased with statistical significance (67.9% vs. 6.1%, p<0.001). The percentage of women who didn’t take folic acid has reduced with statistical significance (32.1% vs. 93.9%, p<0.001). “ I never knew about folic acid before the training and now many women come to ask me how to take it and where to buy it. The women want folic acid tablet because they have heard through the village meeting that folic acid can prevent birth defects. There are many children with birth defects in this area and so it is great to be able to recommend something to help” doctor from district center., Conclusion The Congenital Differences project set out to pioneer a model for the prevention, early detection and early intervention for children with common birth differences. The project has engaged in three key activities: building capacity of medical services staff through training, significant folic acid awareness- raising to prevent birth defects and support for early intervention. The project has successfully created key local partner buy-in, generated local partner support, delivered effective training, supported families in need, provided essential equipment and is changing attitudes on folic acid use and childhood disability Authors : Fran Stevens and Nguyen Thi Kim Lien Handicap International - Vietnam Photo credits : Don Wright