The Ministry of Health is likely to complete the draft of a new national rule early next year, which will "regulate prenatal service in hospitals to control congenital anomaly," health officials said Tuesday.
"The new regulation will have detailed guidelines on equipment, service and staff qualification at medical facilities that provide pre-natal tests," said Dr. Duan Tao, director of Shanghai Prenatal Diagnosis Center.
According to the center, prenatal diagnosis is rather unsatisfactory and unpopular in China. Even in big cities like Shanghai, only 30 percent of pregnant women receive comprehensive and high-quality checks.
"Most medical facilities only do a cursory examination, which often fails to find the problem in time and even results in avoidable congenital deficiency in newborns," said Duan.
At present, China's rate of congenital deficiency is 3 to 5 percent, meaning nearly 1 million infants are born with various anomalies every year. In addition, 1 percent of newborns suffer from fatal diseases. The maladies include congenital heart disease, limb abnormality, intelligence-impacting chromo-some banes like Down syndrome.
Duan admitted that the diagnosis in the city is lagging far behind "normal" standards. For instance, many diseases can be found during the ultrasonic check, but some doctors finish the inspection in just three to five minutes. "A standard check should last at least 20 minutes for each part of the embryo from outer appearance, limbs to organ development," said Duan.
The inferior prenatal checks have come at a cost. The Jing'an District People's Court recently heard a case in which a family sued a local children's hospital for giving a false diagnosis after a prenatal test, claiming the baby will not suffer from a genetic disorder which plagues his brother. But the boy developed the same fatal disease after birth and the family is now claiming more than 1 million yuan in compensation.
Doctors said many disputes can be avoided if medical facilities conduct a thorough examination.
Prenatal check employs a variety of techniques to determine the health of an fetus. It's helpful for managing the remaining weeks of the pregnancy, planning for possible complications in the birth process, as well as deciding whether to continue with the pregnancy.
(eastday.com December 5, 2002)
