Description of Bogotá Birth Defects Surveillance and Follow-up Program.

Congenital anomalies contribute greatly to child mortality and physical disabilities. Strategies used around the world to reduce the frequency and impact of congenital anomalies require epidemiologic surveillance systems to verify their effectiveness. In Bogotá, Colombia, implementation of an accurate monitoring system has been challenging.

METHODS: The Bogotá Congenital Malformations Surveillance Program (BCMSP) gathers data on malformations from 2 sources: (1) the National Public Health Surveillance System (SIVIGILA), applying methodology from the National Health Institute, and (2) cases and control logs from hospitals.

RESULTS: Since the Secretaría Distrital de Salud was established in 2006, BCMSP has monitored 431,670 births, which have included 9,724 congenital malformations (approximately 2 percent of the cases).

CONCLUSION: This report describes the methodology of the BCMSP, and presents specific key results.