An awareness drive educating women about preventing fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) births is ongoing in South Africa for the duration of September.
The commitment to maximise the education campaign globally saw activities held on Monday, 9 September, known as International FASD Day.
The prevalence of pregnant South African women drinking alcohol has resulted in the country having high rates of FASD births on a global scale. According to the World Health Organization’s (WHO) reports, the global FASD prevalence is less than 1%, while in South Africa the rate is approximately 11%. Dr Leana Olivier, chief executive officer (CEO) of the Foundation for Alcohol Related Research (FARR), said research on FASD prevalence is done by the organisation. In some communities, rates as high as 28% have been reported.
“It is estimated that our country’s overall rate might be as high is 11%, according to the WHO report in 2018. FASD causes permanent damage, but it is 100% preventable by women not drinking alcohol during pregnancy,” she said.
Olivier explained that FASD was caused when an unborn baby or foetus is exposed to alcohol in the womb.
“Of great concern globally, also in South Africa, is that many women have unplanned or ‘surprise’ pregnancies and therefore only confirm their pregnancies when they are already a few weeks pregnant.
“Unknowingly, they might have exposed their unborn babies to alcohol. A mother does not need to be a heavy drinker or an alcoholic to have a child with FASD. Even small amounts of alcohol can potentially harm the unborn baby (foetus),” said Olivier.
Intervention by the FARR is made possible through 13 project centres in the Free State, Northern Cape, Eastern Cape and Western Cape. The organisation runs ten projects in the Free State through a dedicated team operating from a centre located in Trompsburg, in the Xhariep district.
Olivier said the foundation had completed 18 FASD prevalence studies in the respective provinces, also training professionals working in those sites on how to support individuals with FASD.
“The objective is to capacitate communities to be able to implement alcohol harm reduction measures in communities and to decrease the number of babies born with FASD. The prevalence rates among the provinces vary with the highest being in the Western Cape (31%), followed by the Northern Cape (28%), Free State (18%) and Eastern Cape (13%),” she said.
Olivier said research also discovered that fathers use of alcohol has an impact.
“Our country has by far the highest prevalence rate globally, and there are reasons why. Of particular lately is the findings about fathers’ alcohol use during the time of conception and the comorbidities associated with FASD,” she said.
