Healthy baby thanks to screening

Staff of Bac Son Regional Medical Center perform heel blood sampling and newborn screening for children

Recalling when she took her child to have her heel blood drawn for newborn screening at the Bac Son Regional Health Center, Ms. Duong Thi Hoa, in Luong Minh village, Hung Vu commune, said: In April 2025, after giving birth, my family was informed by the doctor about the benefits of newborn screening. I understood that a few minutes of simple blood drawing could detect congenital diseases early, protecting the baby's health. Therefore, 3 days after giving birth, I registered and performed newborn screening. When I received the results that my child's health was completely normal, my family was very reassured.

Along with Ms. Hoa’s family, in recent years, many families have changed their awareness and proactively screened their children from the very first days of life. This has made an important contribution to improving population quality and reducing the long-term burden of disease on the community.

Ms. Duong Thi Truong, Head Nurse of the Reproductive Health Care Department, Bac Son Regional Medical Center, said: With just a few drops of heel blood, we can detect early metabolic disorders and dangerous congenital diseases such as G6PD deficiency or congenital hypothyroidism. If timely intervention is provided, the child will develop normally like other children. Therefore, we always promote and provide timely advice so that families understand that newborn screening is the most valuable investment in their child's health. Most families have registered for screening for their children after being advised.

Although there are still difficulties in newborn screening according to the socialization mechanism, since the dissolution of the Provincial Department of Population and Family Planning, there have been no new instructions. However, in the first 8 months of 2025, the Bac Son Regional Health Center still performed 206 newborn screening cases, reaching a rate of 53.2% compared to the total number of newborns, approaching the target set for 2025 (58%).

To achieve that result, Bac Son Regional Health Center has promoted communication in many diverse forms. In addition to direct consultation at households, medical staff also integrated content about the benefits of newborn screening into vaccination sessions, medical examination and treatment, village meetings, and activities of mass organizations... In the first 8 months of 2025, the center organized integrated communication in villages and hamlets for 26 sessions with more than 1,300 listeners; provided consultation and small group discussions for 24 sessions with 250 listeners; integrated propaganda with daily medical examination and treatment at commune health stations for more than 860 people; hundreds of people accessed information via Zalo, Facebook, and the Electronic Information Portal of Bac Son Regional Health Center.

Ms. Hoang Thi Nhin, Deputy Head of the Population - Communication and Health Education Department, Bac Son Regional Health Center emphasized: To increase the rate of newborn screening, we advise the Health Center to request the Department of Health to soon issue a guiding document, creating a legal corridor to continue implementing newborn screening according to the socialization mechanism. At the same time, organize training courses on digital communication for grassroots population officers, helping to mobilize and propagate to the people more effectively.

With that initiative, Bac Son Regional Health Center is one of the units with a high newborn screening rate in the province. This affirms the pioneering role of Bac Son Regional Health Center in caring for and protecting children's health right from the first days of life, contributing significantly to the goal of improving the quality of the population in the area.

Source: https://baolangson.vn/be-khoe-nho-sang-loc-5058465.html