- The ARC - California Edition -

From the Files of CDC

U.S. Surveillance 
During 1998, CDC awarded 3-year cooperative agreements to 18 states to address major problems that hinder the surveillance of birth defects and the use of data for prevention and intervention programs. 

These problems include variability in the effectiveness of state surveillance programs, lack of effective program support by states, and collected data not being used for planning, prevention, and evaluation. 

The states received funding for three categories of activities: to initiate new surveillance programs where none now exist (Maine, Montana, Nevada, and New Hampshire); to support new programs (Florida, Kentucky, Missouri, New Mexico, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Utah); and to improve existing surveillance programs (Arkansas, Colorado, Hawaii, Iowa, Michigan, New York, and Oklahoma). 

Chinese study of the effectiveness of folic acid in a community intervention
During 1998, CDC finished analyzing the data from a study conducted jointly with Chinese health officials to determine folic acid’s effectiveness in reducing rates of neural tube defects (NTDs) in two areas of China. 

In summary, this study showed that in northern China, which has a high incidence of NTDs, women who took 400 micrograms (0.4mg) of folic acid daily at least 80% of the time before and in the early stages of pregnancy reduced their risk of having an NTD-affected pregnancy by 85%. 

Among participating women in southern China, where the incidence was lower (similar to the U.S. NTD rate), the reduction in risk was 40%.

(CDC is an important source for surveillence information. On the internet, they can be reached at: http://www.cdc.gov)