US EPA

3499731 

Technical Report 

March of Dimes global report on birth defects. The hidden toll of dying and disabled children 

Christianson, A; Howson, CP; Modell, B 

2006 

March of Dimes Birth Defects Foundation 

White Plains, NY 

76 

English 

has individual parts 3499907 : Executive summary
has individual parts 3499918 : Wall chart
has individual parts 3499926 : Appendix

President Franklin Roosevelt established the March of Dimes Foundation in 1938 to defeat polio. He created a partnership of volunteers and researchers that led to the development of the polio vaccines. Today the March of Dimes mission is improving infant health by preventing birth defects, premature birth and infant mortality. A birth defect is defined as any abnormality affecting body structure or function that is present from birth. The March of Dimes mission is carried out through research, community services, education and advocacy.

In 1998, the March of Dimes broadened its mission beyond the United States and established its office of Global Programs. Global Programs conducts its work through mission alliances—close working partnerships with private and public organizations in countries—to improve perinatal health and prevent birth defects. In the past six years, March of Dimes has helped implement effective, affordable and feasible programs on four continents.

In 2000, Global Programs initiated a process to document the global toll of birth defects and provide policy makers, funding organizations and health care providers with feasible, cost-effective recommendations for reducing this toll. In 2004, it commissioned the current report from Professors Arnold Christianson of the National Health Laboratory Service and University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa, and Bernadette Modell of the Royal Free and University College Medical School, London, England.

Professor Modell compiled the data presented in Appendix B. The methods she used are detailed in Appendix A. The data in this report represent the culmination of work that Professor Modell began in the early 1980s for the World Health Organization on hemoglobin disorders, which ultimately expanded to encompass all serious birth defects of genetic or partially genetic origin. This work draws on data from a range of existing databases and the authors would like to express their appreciation of those experts whose meticulous work and scientific dedication have contributed so much to the de velopment of this global overview. Professor Christianson provided a first draft of the report based on his expertise as a clinical geneticist, experience in implementing medical services for the care and prevention of birth defects in South Africa and years of consulting on this topic with experts from other middle- and low-income countries. Dr. Christopher Howson of the March of Dimes drafted additional sections of the report and contributed his analytic and programmatic perspective as an epidemiologist and program manager with many years of experience in conducting joint programs with international partners to improve newborn health in middle- and low income countries.