Pollution blamed for surge in China birth defects
Every 30 seconds, a baby is born with physical defects in China, all because the country's polluted environment, said a top level family planning official.
The number of newborns with birth defects is constantly increasing in both urban and rural areas," said Jiang Fan, of the national population and family planning commission (NPFPC), reported China Daily newspaper. He said the ‘alarming increase’ has forced the commission to kick off a high-level prevention plan.
The rate of defects has risen 40% from 104.9 per 10,000 births in 2001, to 145.5 in 2006, affecting nearly one in 10 families, the commission said on its website. Infants with birth defects now account for "about four to six per cent of total births every year” And of these, 30% would die and 40% would be disabled.
Northern China's coal-rich Shanxi province, a centre of toxic emissions from large-scale chemical industries, has recorded the highest rate of birth defects, with levels far above the country’s average, the NPFPC said. The report comes as Beijing tries to improve air quality in time for the August 2008 Olympics.
Environmental pollution, including dirty air, accounts for '10% of the causes' of physical defects in Chinese babies. “Our research shows that chemical waste pollution has been the main factor to influence the health of pregnant women and their babies in some areas,” medical professor Hu Yali of Nanjing University told Chinese newspaper, Ta Kung Pao. Researchers also blamed exposure to nitrogen dioxide and carbon monoxide for the increase.
The surge in birth defects will soon become a social problem, which "will influence economic development and the quality of life," Pan Jianping, a professor of the Women and Child Health Research Office said in China Daily. "Economic pressure is very heavy for families raising babies with physical defects, particularly for those who live in poor rural areas," he said, adding that the families also have to cope with psychological trauma because of the social stigma.
Some 800,000 to 1.2 million babies are born with defects each year in China. That accounts for four to six per cent of births, according to government statistics. The number born with defects includes 20,000 with congenital heart diseases. About 100,000 others suffer from neurological defects, 50,000 have cleft lip and 30,000 have Down's syndrome.
Worldwide, The World Health Organisation estimates about three to five per cent of children are born with birth defects.
SOS Children has been active in China since 1986 when the first SOS Children's community was built in Tianjin (also known as Tientsin), a large city about 100 km south east of Beijing. There are now nine SOS Children communities in China, which between them are home to over 1000 children.
By Hayley Jarvis for SOS Children
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