Following the Department of Health (DOH) Administrative Order 2014-0035, newborn screening continuity clinics (NBSCC) were established in 2014 to facilitate continuity of care for patients with confirmed heritable disorders within the specific geographic areas assigned to each clinic.¹ These clinics serve as referral centers for the long-term management--encompassing counseling, treatment, monitoring, and follow-up--of confirmed cases screened by the Newborn Screening Centers.^{1 2} One such clinic is the Region XI NBSCC, located in Southern Philippines Medical Center (SPMC).²

At its inception, the Region XI NBSCC in SPMC was tasked with serving confirmed cases from the NSC-Mindanao, covering the Davao Region (Region XI) and the Caraga Region (Region XIII). Currently, the Region XI NBSCC at SPMC has two satellite clinics, one in Davao del Sur Provincial Hospital (Digos) and another in Davao Occidental General Hospital (Malita).²

The infographic below illustrates the census of the SPMC-based NBSCC as of May 2025. Of the 336 patients with confirmed heritable disorders endorsed by NSC-Mindanao to the SPMC NBSCC, 214 were successfully contacted. Among those reached, 199 have ongoing follow ups (122 of whom are seen in person at the clinic, while the remaining 77 are either seen during home visits by the NBSCC team or are still due for follow-up, 9 have died, 4 have been discharged from the continuity clinic, and 2 have migrated abroad. The remaining 122 patients could not be contacted and were classified as unrecalled. Of these, 77 had been unrecalled for less than 6 months, while 45 had been unrecalled for more than 6 months and were classified as lost-to-follow up.

Among the 336 endorsed patients, 138 are classified as indigent. In terms of diagnosis, 276 (82.14%) were diagnosed with congenital hypothyroidism, 18 (5.36%) with congenital adrenal hyperplasia, 7 (2.08%) with galactosemia, 6 (1.78%) with phenylketonuria, 2 (0.60%) with maple syrup urine disease, 2 (0.60%) with tyrosinemia type I, 1 (0.30%) with tyrosinemia type III, 1 (0.30%) with medium-chain acyl-Coenzyme A dehydrogenase deficiency, 1 (0.30%) with very long-chain acyl-Coenzyme A dehydrogenase deficiency, 7 (2.08%) with 3-methylcrotonyl-CoA carboxylase deficiency, 12 (3.57%) with HbH A thalassemia, and 2 (0.60%) with β-thalassemia/hemoglobin E.

Before the Davao NBSCC was established, patients had to follow up at NSC-Mindanao or the SPMC outpatient clinic, often resulting in poor tracking and loss to follow-up. The NBSCC has since improved recall rates, but gaps remain, with many patients still not returning for care. Sustained improvements will require targeted strategies, better resource allocation, and transition protocols from pediatric to adult services.