THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Marking a concerning finding in the state’s health trend, the Assembly Estimates Committee has come out with a report pointing at an increase in newborn infants with genetic deformities.
As per the report, Thiruvananthapuram is leading in the number of newborn children with genetic defects. The report, which compiled the data from the Newborn Screening Program from 2021 to 2023, found that the capital city is followed by Kollam and Malappuram in the number of cases. The committee, chaired by former health minister KK Shailaja, also identified that the number of children with genetic disorders are increasing in the state.
The number of newborns reported with genetic defects was 2,635 in 2021, which rose to 3,232 in 2022 and 4,779 in 2023. The figures of Thiruvananthapuram district increased from 379 in 2021 to 1,237 in 2023, a jump of 226%. The 2024 figures from the 13 government medical colleges of the state, under the ‘Shalabham’ scheme, also revealed that 61% of the cases identified in the state (1745 out of 2846) were from the capital.