The Hawaii Birth Defects Program (HBDP) was founded in 1988 in response to a community- based Invitational Roundtable recommendation to the Governor to establish a badly needed adverse reproductive outcome surveillance system for the state. The HBDP is a population based, multiple ascertainment, active surveillance system with statewide coverage, whose purpose is to be a reliable, valid and timely information source. From approximately 17,000 births annually, cases are ascertained for over 1,000 CDC mandated congenital anomalies including all neoplasms occurring between conception and one year of age. From 1986-1998, the HBDP identified 288 babies with cancer, abstracted within six months of documented diagnosis.
The HBDP monitors birth defects and other adverse pregnancy outcomes for trends and changes over time, including the identification of geographic and other clusters. It provides information for developing public awareness education programs, and acts as a resource for the planning and development of appropriate statewide and community level services and preventive strategies. The HBDP also distributes information (to over 1,000 requesters), gives presentations (100+) and publishes (over 80 with 8 articles in peer-reviewed professional journals). The Program served as the pilot site for the Department of Defense's Gulf War Syndrome Birth Defects project and was also involved in its Phase II studies. And lastly, the Hawaii Birth Defects Program was recently named by the national Pew Charitable Trust Environmental Health Commission as one of the four best birth defects programs in the country, giving it a grade of "A" along with only seven other states.
The HBDP has been funded by contracts from the Hawaii State Department of Health, and grants from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Ronald McDonald Children's Charities, March of Dimes Birth Defects Foundation, George F. Straub Trust, Queen Emma Foundation, Pacific Southwest Regional Genetics Network, and the Kamehameha Schools/Bishop Estate.

Ruth D. Merz, M.S.,
HBDP Administrator
A. Michelle Weaver, R.M.A., C.H.W.,
HBDP Data Collection Specialist
Amy M. Yamamoto, R.M.A., C.H.W.,
HBDP Data Collection Specialist
Mathias B. Forrester, B.S.,
HBDP Data Collection Consultant (Part Time)