Sub-Saharan African Network for Congenital Anomalies: Surveillance, Prevention and Care

Globally in 2017, about 5.5 million children were born with congenital anomalies (CAs). As the fifth leading cause of death for children under-five, CAs were responsible for 584,900 deaths, over 10% of all under-five deaths. An estimated 96% of deaths related to CA occur in LMIC including Sub-Saharan Africa. The rationale for this network rests on three pillars: 1) CA (structural anomalies present at birth) are important contributors to stillbirths and neonatal mortality and morbidity and disability in Africa and thus improving prevention and care is important for the attainment of Sustainable Development Goal 3. 2) Special problems exist in Africa relating to CAs including underdiagnoses, poor reporting, cultural/ stigma, little access to care, maternal nutritional, infectious and environmental causes, and post-surgical mortality. 3) There are few established CA surveillance centres in Africa and no co-ordination or networking. Recent concerns regarding antiretroviral safety in pregnancy, and the Zika virus epidemic, have reinforced calls for effective surveillance. The network aims to promote the prevention of CA, and care for affected children and families, by building an evidence base through surveillance and research, improving capacity for collaborative research, and paving an impact pathway on policy and practice. Objectives of this Seed Project are: - To establish a Sub-Saharan African network for CA: Surveillance, Prevention and Care. - To develop a position paper "The Burden of Birth Defects in Sub-Saharan Africa" in order to make an appropriate case for national funding of public health actions, care services and surveillance relating to CA - To scope potential harnessing of new technologies Starting with 9 African countries and global partners, this multidisciplinary network will include paediatricians, epidemiologists, geneticists, pediatric surgeons, social scientists, patient organisations, ministries of health, and academia.