A national monitoring system for congenital malformations in Israel.

In 1976 the Department of Maternal and Child Health in Israel established, at minimum cost, a national system for reporting of congenital malformations. The system is based on hospital reporting of all live births through a special form attached to the live birth certificate. Compliance of reporting has reached 80 to 90%. Data obtained are tabulated and circulated monthly. It was found that forms that were received later reported a relatively higher percentage of congenital anomalies.