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Abstract
The number of individuals with Down syndrome (DS) and the birth rate of newborns with Trisomy 21 are unknown in Mongolia. Prenatal diagnosis is rare, and there are difficulties in the diagnosis of the chromosomal abnormality as well. The medical follow-up and rehabilitation services are limited. John Langdon Down was the first to describe this syndrome in 1862 and named these individuals "Mongolians" for their similarity to the Mongolian race. This name was gradually changed to "Down syndrome" during the 1960s in his honor and also to avoid political and ethical incorrectness.
Keywords: Down syndrome, Trisomy 21, prenatal diagnosis.
Introduction
With the invitation of the Foreign Minister of Mongolia and its local Down Syndorme Family Association I had the special opportunity to conduct a professional and educational visit to Mongolia during the summer of 2008. I had the privilege to meet and advise all sixteen families that are members of the association. I met pediatricians, obstetricians, geneticists, investigators and rehabilitation personnel and learned from them about the medical and developmental situation of the individuals with Down syndrome (DS) in Mongolia.
Mongolia
Mongolia is an enormous country - over 1,564,000 square kilometers (larger than Great Britain, France, Germany and Italy all together) in East Asia, neighboring Russia on the north and China on the south. It has a relatively small population - 2.7 million - with almost a third living in its capital, Ulaanbaatar. The rest live in smaller towns and villages with a small minority still living as traditional nomads, mainly in the Goby desert in the south. In Mongolia there are snowy mountains and wide deserts, huge forests and clear lakes, hot summers and freezing winters. It is a developing country, with a GNP of only 2,900 US$ per year, but on the edge of an expected economical prosperity that is made possible with the findings of huge natural resources in its...