The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA

Abstract #43651

Mary-Elizabeth M. Reeve, PhD, MPH, Global Programs, March of Dimes, 1275 Mamaroneck Avenue, White Plains, NY 10605, (914) 997-4247, mreeve@modimes.org

Birth defects are an increasingly significant contributor to infant mortality and overall morbidity in Latin America and other regions of the world, as deaths and disability due to infectious diseases are reduced through successful public health efforts. An innovative partnership between the March of Dimes and the de Waal Foundation, a Dutch-based NGO, has resulted in the development of prenatal education and training programs focused on birth defects reduction in six Latin American countries. The partnership has combined the extensive programmatic experience of the March of Dimes in the area of professional and patient education on perinatal health issues with the capacity of the de Waal Foundation to build cost-effective programs and training networks in each of the project countries. The project, initiated in 2000, has to date trained over 800 trainers (health care and education professionals and community leaders) who have trained colleagues and the target population of adolescents, pregnant women and men and women of reproductive age. This presentation will focus on the cost effective mechanisms developed by the partnership for the development of educational materials, network building and information sharing between the health care, education, and community leadership sectors of each country, and international organizations, to raise awareness in Latin America about reduction of birth defects.

Learning Objectives:

• Participants will learn about a successful model for efficient and cost-effective development of a prenatal education program in Latin America. Participants will be able to describe seven key components of the model. Participants will also learn three key prenatal health messages for birth defects prevention. At the conclusion of the session, participants will be able to apply lessons learned from the model, and key educational messages, to similar prenatal education programs elsewhere in the developing world.

Keywords: Birth Defects, Developing Countries

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.