In 1967, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) established the Metropolitan Atlanta Congenital Defects Programﾠ(MACDP), a population-based tracking system for birth defects. It partnered with the Georgia Mental Health Institute and the Emory University School of Medicine. Since 1967, the program tracked birth defects among infants and children born to mothers living in metropolitan Atlanta using active case-finding methods and multiple sources of information.