Medical stations in Hanoi have so far provided prenatal and newborn screening services for over 23,600 pregnant women and 11,600 infants in a bid to reduce the rate of children born with congenital defects.

A major centre for this purpose was recently put into use at the Hanoi Obstetrics and Gynaecology Hospital.

Built at a total cost of 74 billion VND (3.48 million USD), the facility is part of a project to promptly detect innate disorders through screening in the 2013-2015 period.

The municipal health department has also opened training courses for nearly 80 doctors and screened nearly 7,000 children for hearing disease.

According to the General Office for Population and Family Planning, more than 87,000 babies are born with congenital conditions in Vietnam each year.-VNA