Awareness program on newborn screening was held by Center for excellence in Inborn errors of metabolism

A session on ‘Newborn screening for Inborn errors of metabolism’ for the students of Dr G Shankar Government Women's First Grade College and PG Study Center, Ajjarkadu, Udupi was conducted on 20 February. The program was jointly organized by the Center for excellence in Inborn errors of metabolism MAHE and Lions club, Parkala  on 20^th  Feburary at Town Hall, Udupi.

The welcome address for the programme was delivered by Prof. Ramraya Acharya (Student Welfare officer), Dr G Shankar Government Women's First Grade College and PG Study Center, Ajjarkadu, Udupi. The chief guests for the event were Dr. Bhaskar Shetty,Principal Dr G Shankar Government Womens First Grade College and PG Study Center, Ajjarkadu, Udupi, Dr. Sudheer Moorkoth, Assosciate professor, Department of Pharmaceutical Quality Assurance, Manipal college of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Dr. Angela Brand, Adjunct professor, Department of Pubic health genomics, Manipal school of Life sciences and Mr Harish Suwarna, Presisdent Lions club, Parkala.

Dr Sudheer Moorkoth gave an overview of the programme. He provided a brief insight on the structure of the meeting and provided introductory talk on newborn screening and inborn errors of metabolism. He explained to the gathering the concept of rare diseases, metabolisim of food in humans and precipitation of inborn errors of metabolism,various names of newborn screening programme and provided a brief explanation on congenital hypothyroidisim, a prevalent disease in India. The objective of the session was further emphasized by Dr.Angela Brand. Dr. Brand explained the various aspects of the newborn screening. Her talk reflected on the history of newborn screening, when and how newborn screening is done and the interpretation of test results. Her examples of disorders like congenital hypothyroidisim, galactosemia, phenyl ketonuria provided better understanding on the importance of newborn screening.

The presidential remark was provided by Dr. Bhaskar Shetty. In his speech he emphasized on creating awareness on newborn screening among the young women of the society. The street play organized by Rangasthala, School of communication, MAHE was entertaining and informative in conveying the session’s purpose on the importance of newborn screening for inborn errors of metabolism.

Overall the seminar saw an enormous participation of 1000 students from both Dr G Shankar Government Women's First Grade College and PG Study Center, Ajjarkadu, Udupi. The program concluded with remarks from Dr. Prakash, Professor in the Department of Zoology, Dr G Shankar Government Womens First Grade College and PG Study Center, Ajjarkadu, Udupi.