Fortunately, most babies receive a clean bill of health when tested. When test results show that a baby has a health defect, however, early diagnosis and treatment can make the difference between lifelong disabilities and optimal development.

Four of the nation's most respected medical associations, with a combined membership of over 200,000, have teamed with two NIH institutes on this groundbreaking initiative. The National Library of Medicine (NLM), the world's largest medical library, and the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), the research arm of NIH dedicated to ensuring that every child in the U.S. is born healthy and grows up free from disease and disability, have entered into partnerships with the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP), the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) and the American College of Medical Genetics (ACMG) to encourage physicians to point patients to first-rate online health information in NLM's Genetics Home Reference database.

"Part of a physician's job is to explain illnesses, diagnoses and treatments to their patients," says Donald A.B. Lindberg, MD, Director of the National Library of Medicine. "NLM's Genetics Home Reference provides authoritative, user-friendly, and commercial-free information that doctors can use to supplement information provided in the office or clinic. We think it saves time and improves doctors' communications with patients, in addition to its obvious value in helping keep babies healthy."

"Physicians have always known that an informed patient who takes an active role is a 'better' p
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Contact: Robert Mehnert
publicinfo@nlm.nih.gov
301-496-6308
NIH/National Library of Medicine
20-Nov-2006