This is Arizona’s application to CDC for the Cooperative Agreement Advancing Population-Based Surveillance of Birth Defects. Under the Arizona Department of Health Services, the Arizona Birth Defects Monitoring Program ABDMP) submits this application with the goals of enhancing Arizona’s population-based birth defects surveillance program, expanding utilization of data for birth defects prevention activities, and ensuring referral to appropriate multidisciplinary services for families and their children with birth defects.
Since 1986, ABDMP has operated this statewide, population-based registry, which collects data about children with birth defects among the 85,000 births per year in Arizona. The ABDMP has been funded, in part, through CDC Agreements since 2004, and has a proven record of advancing our surveillance program under each cycle. Under the new Agreement, we are eager to continue our success in ascertaining timely and accurate data, as well as to enhance and expand our surveillance. Through this, we look forward to sharing our data for multistate studies, publishing findings and innovative methodologies, and using our data to improve primary and secondary prevention efforts.
The purpose of the ABDMP project is to enhance surveillance methods in order to maintain quality data to share with local and national partners - to broaden epidemiological studies of birth defects, their causes, and outcomes. Use of the information will allow us to support prevention efforts for our unique Arizona population; specifically, our data will help in educating partners and communities about disparities and gaps in service, as well as to guide interventions aimed at reducing risks and improving outcomes. Furthermore, under Component C, ABDMP will expand available data and linkages to increase knowledge about pulse oximetry screening and follow up, in an effort to, again, understand gaps and improve outcomes.
With newly allocated resources from this cooperative agreement, ABDMP will work to achieve the following outcomes:
• Improved birth defects surveillance, including data that contributes to multi-state analysis.
• Improved dissemination of accurate & timely information to organizations and individuals to allow them to utilize our data to guide prevention and intervention.
• Increased knowledge about primary and secondary birth defects prevention, and sharing of knowledge with our partners and the public.
• Improved early identification and linkage to health and other services for affected families, and continued engagement with our ADHS Children with Special Healthcare Needs Program to increase utilization of services for affected individuals and families.
• Evaluation of our program, methodology, and data; and disseminate this information via publications and/or presentations.
• Enhanced linkages and early surveillance of newborn screening for CCHDs.
• Continued evaluation and improvement of pulse oximetry screening processes, based on ongoing quality assessment.