Six hundred thousand babies are born with abnormalities every year, but there is no national registry to track them

New Delhi: Nearly 600,000 babies in India are born with congenital anomalies every year. However, the country has no national registry to track them.As infectious disease mortality rates decline and congenital conditions account for an increasing share of childhood deaths, experts say gaps in surveillance and coordinated care are becoming increasingly pressing. According to recent estimates, India accounts for 16% of birth defect-related deaths worldwide. Smile Train India and Birth Defects Research Foundation on Monday launched the Birth Anomaly Network in India (BIND) to promote prevention, early diagnosis and structured long-term care. The multi-stakeholder platform was inaugurated at the India Habitat Center in New Delhi. Central to its agenda is a proposed National Birth Anomaly Registry to generate reliable national data, identify preventable risk factors and guide health planning. Experts acknowledge that current surveillance is fragmented, screening is uneven and referral pathways are weak, especially outside metropolitan areas. Congenital heart disease, cleft lip and palate, spina bifida, clubfoot, Down syndrome, and vision and hearing impairments constitute a large portion of the burden. Many conditions are treatable if detected early, but multidisciplinary care is rarely integrated into routine neonatal services. Mamta Carroll, vice president and regional director of Smile Train Asia, said public awareness of birth abnormalities is still insufficient. Dr Anita Ka of the Birth Defects Research Foundation warned that without systematic registration, policy responses would remain piecemeal.