Building capacity for birth defects surveillance in Africa: Implementation of an intermediate birth defects...

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Epidemiology
• Global Health

Background:

• An estimated 300,000 neonates worldwide are born with neural tube defects annually.
• Many countries lack robust birth defect surveillance registries, hindering problem assessment.
• Effective surveillance is vital for understanding determinants and guiding prevention strategies.

Purpose of the Study:

• To summarize the development and implementation of a training program for birth defect surveillance.
• To assess the effectiveness of an online pre-course training and in-person workshop.
• To gather participant feedback for improving future surveillance training initiatives.

Main Methods:

• An online pre-course training module was developed.
• An in-person surveillance workshop was conducted.
• Training targeted representatives from six African countries between December 2014 and March 2015.

Main Results:

• The training program was successfully developed and implemented.
• Participant feedback was collected to identify lessons learned.
• The initiative aimed to enhance birth defect surveillance capacity in participating African nations.

Conclusions:

• The training and workshop provided valuable insights for improving birth defect surveillance.
• Lessons learned can be applied to future training programs and workshops.
• Strengthening surveillance systems is essential for addressing the global burden of neural tube defects.