Neonatal screening for phenylketonuria, congenital hypothyroidism and hemoglobinopathies: evaluation of cooverage in Cruz das Almas and Valença-Bahia, Brazil

The Neonatal Screening Program (NSP) in Brazil carried out by The Unique Health System (SUS) identifies the following congenital disorders: phenylketonuria, congenital hypothyroidism and hemoglobinapathies which should be treated in advance. The objective of this study is to evaluate the coverage of the neonatal Screening Program and the incidence of the identified disease by The Newborn Screening Reference Service at APAE-Salvador.The data were collected from registrations in The Municipal Department of health of Cruz das Almas e Valença, Newborn Screening Reference Service and DATASUS from 2001 to 2009. The results show that there was an increase in the coverage in Cruz das Almas (88.8%) and Valença (87.6%) respectively. In these two municipalities in Bahia it was found out an incidence of emoglobinapathies (two cases per 1000 live-births), three cases per 1000 congenital hypothyroidism and none of phenylketonuria. There were prominent inconsistencies in the registry of newborns and their blood samples as identified by the NSP. It can be concluded that there was an increase in the coverage of the NSP with relevant incidence of hemoglobinapathies in the municipalities studied. The success of the neonatal screening program in Cruz das Almas and Valença depends on the adherence of the municipalities. Therefore, it is necessary to implement a management service of information at the municipal Departments of health for planning public health policies.