Gujarat to launch Atal Sneh scheme to screen newborns for birth defects

Ahmedabad  :  Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani announced that his government would launch 'Atal Sneh' scheme under which newborns would be tested for birth defects.

The scheme will be launched on the birth anniversary of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee on December 25, a press release quoted the Chief Minister as saying.

Teams comprising doctors, female health workers and officials of child protection department would visit the government as well as private nursing homes and hospitals to check health of all the newborn babies.

Rupani, who inaugurated the annual school health check-up drive covering almost 1.5 crore school children in Gujarat's Gandhinagar, said Atal Sneh scheme was aimed at addressing the issue of various birth defects among infants such as neural tube defects, cleft lip, club foot, congenital heart diseases, deafness and Down's syndrome.

Such infants will be regularly monitored by medical officers and female health workers to check the progress of their treatment. Those having critical condition would be referred to another hospital for better treatment.