The number of births in Portugal fell in the first quarter to 20,575, 490 fewer than in the same period last year, after having been rising since 2022, data based on the “heel prick test” reveals today.
The data, released by the Ricardo Jorge National Health Institute (INSA) to Lusa and which brings together almost all births in Portugal, shows that the number of babies tracked fell again after reaching, in the same period of 2023, the value highest (21,065) since the start of the covid-19 pandemic, in March 2020.
The year 2023 had closed with 2,328 more babies studied compared to the year 2022, totaling 85,764, according to data from the National Neonatal Screening Program (PNRN), coordinated by INSA.
Data from this year indicate that January was the month that recorded the highest number of births (7,683), followed by February (6,651) and March, with 6,241 babies.
In this first quarter, Lisbon was the district with the most tests carried out (6,316), followed by Porto (3,597), Setúbal (1,656), Braga (1,561), Faro (1,075) and Aveiro (899).
The lowest number of tests was observed in the district of Bragança (122), followed by Portalegre (134) and Guarda (165).
The “heel prick test” made it possible to identify, in 2023, 150 cases of rare diseases among the 85,764 babies studied, of which 54 were hereditary metabolic diseases, 50 were congenital hypothyroidism, six were cystic fibrosis, 34 were sickle cell disease and six were atrophy. spinal muscle.
Coordinated by INSA, through its Neonatal Screening, Metabolism and Genetics Unit, of the Department of Human Genetics, the PNRN has been tracking 28 pathologies since 1979, having identified 2,692 cases of rare diseases by the end of 2023, following screening carried out at 4,224,550 newborns.
According to the institute, the identification of the disease made it possible for “all patients to immediately begin specific treatment, avoiding intellectual deficit and other irreversible neurological or extra-neurological changes, with consequent morbidity or mortality”.
Although not mandatory, the program currently has a coverage rate of 99.5%, with the average time to start treatment being around 10 days.
The “foot test” is carried out from the third day of the newborn’s life, by collecting a few droplets of blood from the child’s foot.
