www.alkoholpolitik.ch

Since the term was coined about 40 years ago, fetal alcohol syndrome has slowly become recognized as a public health issue. Alicestine October reports from South Africa’s Western Cape province, which has the highest reported rate in the world.
“When I was pregnant with my son I drank a lot – mostly on weekends,” says Marion Williams, a 45-year-old mother who lost two of her five children in childbirth.
Williams lives in one of South Africa’s famous wine-growing areas in the Western Cape. She started drinking as a teenager and was taken out of school, she suspects, to work to buy wine for her parents. … (Source: Bulletin of the World Health Organization 2011;89:398–399. doi:10.2471/BLT.11.020611)

The objective of this study was to conduct a systematic review of the literature related to the measurement of the economic impact of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) in different countries and to categorize the available literature. … Existing estimates of the economic impact of FASD demonstrate significant cost implications on the individual, the family and society. However, these estimates vary considerably due to the different methodologies used by different studies. Limitations and gaps in the existing methodologies of calculating the economic costs of FASD are discussed. It is evident that there is an urgent need to develop a comprehensive and sound methodology for calculating the economic impact of FASD to the society. (Source: Alcohol Reports, 04/22/11)

Exposure to alcohol in the womb doesn’t affect all fetuses equally. Why does one woman who drinks alcohol during pregnancy give birth to a child with physical, behavioral or learning problems — known as fetal alcohol spectrum disorder — while another woman who also drinks has a child without these problems? (Source: Google Alcohol News, 03/24/11) machineslikeus.com, 03/24/11 Medical News Today, 03/24/11

Adolescent Offspring Of Women Who Drank Alcohol During First Trimester Of Their Pregnancy Three Times As Likely To Develop Conduct Disorder.
Alcohol use during pregnancy is common and is associated with significant threats to the health and development of exposed offspring. Despite warnings from the Surgeon General to limit alcohol use if pregnant or contemplating pregnancy, a recent survey by the National Birth Defects Prevention Study found that nearly one-third of women drank alcohol at some time during their pregnancy, with one-fourth of the women surveyed having drunk during the first trimester. (Source: Medical News Today, 03/22/11)

Denmark’s health minister has called for free sterilisation for female alcoholics and drug addicts to help prevent birth defects in children. Bertel Haarder is proposing that the DKK 13,000 (EUR 1,744) fee for surgical sterilisation should be waived for certain vulnerable groups.
Haarder claims that drug addicts and alcoholics run a significantly higher risk of giving birth to deformed babies, which would cost society more in the long run than the sterilisation fee. “We’re talking about relatively few women here, so I hope we can find the means to help them,” he said.
Socialist People’s Party spokesperson, Ozlem Cekic, also said it is contradictory that costly abortions are free to addicts on the public health service but sterilisation is not. … (Source: Alcohol Reports, 02/28/11) icenews.is, 02/25/11 Comment: At the end of the 19th and beginning of 20th century the idea of sterilisation was in discussion. The Swiss psychiatrist and leading international specialist on alcoholism, Prof. August Forel (1848-1931), wrote on this subject: Eugenik. In the 1980th there was criticism about this comparing with Nazi-ideology.

A push by the Alcohol Advisory Council (ALAC) for health advisory labels to be placed on alcohol containers warning of the dangers of consuming alcohol while pregnant is a step closer.
A Trans-Tasman food labelling review panel has just released its recommendations calling for suitably worded warning messages about the risks of consuming alcohol while pregnant be mandated on individual containers of alcoholic beverages and at the point of sale for unpackaged alcoholic beverages.
The independent panel, commissioned by the Trans-Tasman Australia and New Zealand Food Regulation Ministerial Council, also recommended generic alcohol warning messages be placed on alcohol labels but only as an element of a comprehensive multifaceted national campaign targeting the public health problems of alcohol in society. (Source: Google Alcohol News, 01/31/11) voxy.co.nz, 01/31/11

The Norwegian Health Directorate has launched a campaign ”Alkoholfritt svangerskap” (Alcohol-free pregnancy) to raise awareness among the population about the risks of alcohol consumption during pregnancy.
“You give your child the best start if you abstain from alcohol during pregnancy. Research shows that alcohol may interfere with the development of the child’s brain and other organs. Think about drinking habits already when planning children”
The animation-movie “Soon to be mother” is at the moment running on Norwegian TV and cinemas and is available on YouTube and on their website:

http://www.helsedirektoratet.no/gravid/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dr__u6bRBK0
(Source: Eurocare Newsletter Winter 2010)

Use of population-attributable fractions from the Global Burden of Disease Study.
Conclusions: Alcohol consumption is a major contributor to premature mortality in San Francisco, especially among males. Interventions to avert alcohol-related harm in San Francisco should be taken at the population level and deserve the same attention that is given to other major risk factors, such as smoking or obesity. (Source: BMC Public Health 2010), 10:682doi:10.1186/1471-2458-10-682, Published: 9 November 2010

The South African government is taking a fresh approach in dealing with the scourge of alcohol abuse, especially amongst pregnant women. It has challenged the liquor industry to re-evaluate the type of advertisements that portray drinking alcohol as prestigious and the myth that excessive drinking is acceptable.
“Alcohol abuse can never amount to acceptable behaviour regardless of the day on which it is consumed,” Social Development Minister Bathabile Dlamini told the Foetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) Indaba, currently underway in Johannesburg.
Dlamini said the call was spurred by the recognition of the complexity of the problem, and that only collective action would yield any results in reducing the number of people dependent on alcohol.
The problem knows no age, race or gender, but it is particularly challenging amongst pregnant women. The legacy of alcohol abuse on the developing foetus is a lifetime of dealing with FAS, or Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD). (Source: Alcohol Reports, 11/21/10) buanews.gov.za, 11/18/10

It has been known for many years that drinking alcohol while pregnant can cause serious and irreversible damage to the fetus. However, new research exploring memory deficits in children diagnosed with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) or fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) may be able to aid in the creation of new therapies and treatments. (Source: Medical News Today, 10/21/10)