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September 9 - NOFAS and FASD organizations from the United States, Australia, the UK, Canada and countries across the globe are today recognizing the 11th Annual FASD Awareness Day. NOFAS Program Director Erin Frey, MD appeared on the Today Show this morning with Al Roker, and Vice President Kathy Mitchell was quoted in a Chicago Tribune story. On Capitol Hill, the United States Senate has passed a resolution sponsored by Lisa Murkowski and Tim Johnson designating today as FASD Awareness Day. The resolution urges citizens to promote awareness of the effects of prenatal exposure to alcohol and to increase compassion for individuals affected by alcohol and pregnancy.
Dr. Frey and other FASD advocates gathered in Rockefeller Center outside of the Today Show set where portions of the NBC program originate. Al Roker, the show’s weather anchor, interviewed Dr. Frey who promoted NOFAS, today’s FASD Day observance and the message to abstain from alcohol when pregnant.
In the Chicago Tribune article, Ms. Mitchell expressed frustration that nearly 30 years since the U.S. Surgeon General advised women to abstain from alcohol during pregnancy due to the risk of birth defects, “Many physicians and health clinics still do not screen women for alcohol use, do not educate them on the hazards of drinking while pregnant and do not even recognize FASD...”
Tribune staff writer Bonnie Miller Rubin, also wrote in the article: While experts say positive strides have been made, Mitchell claims there are only "a small handful" of medical schools teaching physicians to recognize the range of birth defects. Too many clinicians still define the condition by its the most severe manifestation--marked by facial deformities and stunted growth. "Unless a child has profound features or adopted from Russia, the possibility of FASD is never even thought of."
Below is the text of the U.S. Senate resolution on FASD Day.
111th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. RES. 240
Designating September 9, 2009, as `National Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders Awareness Day'.
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
August 4, 2009
Ms. MURKOWSKI (for herself, Mr. JOHNSON, Mr. HATCH, Mr. DORGAN, and Mr. SPECTER) submitted the following resolution; which was considered and agreed to
RESOLUTION
Designating September 9, 2009, as `National Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders Awareness Day'.
Whereas the term `fetal alcohol spectrum disorders' includes a broader range of conditions and therefore has replaced the term `fetal alcohol syndrome' as the umbrella term describing the range of effects that can occur in an individual whose mother drank alcohol during pregnancy;
Whereas fetal alcohol spectrum disorders are the leading cause of cognitive disability in western civilization, including the United States, and are 100 percent preventable;
Whereas fetal alcohol spectrum disorders are a major cause of numerous social disorders, including learning disabilities, school failure, juvenile delinquency, homelessness, unemployment, mental illness, and crime;
Whereas the incidence rate of fetal alcohol syndrome is estimated at 1 out of 500 live births and the incidence rate of fetal alcohol spectrum disorders is estimated at 1 out of every 100 live births;
Whereas although the economic costs of fetal alcohol spectrum disorders are difficult to estimate, the cost of fetal alcohol syndrome alone in the United States was $5,400,000,000 in 2003, and it is estimated that each individual with fetal alcohol syndrome will cost taxpayers of the United States between $1,500,000 and $3,000,000 in his or her lifetime;
Whereas in February 1999, a small group of parents of children who suffer from fetal alcohol spectrum disorders came together with the hope that in 1 magic moment the world could be made aware of the devastating consequences of alcohol consumption during pregnancy;
Whereas the first International Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Awareness Day was observed on September 9, 1999;
Whereas Bonnie Buxton of Toronto, Canada, the co-founder of the first International Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Awareness Day, asked `What if . . . a world full of FAS/E [Fetal Alcohol Syndrome/Effect] parents all got together on the ninth hour of the ninth day of the ninth month of the year and asked the world to remember that during the 9 months of pregnancy a woman should not consume alcohol . . . would the rest of the world listen?'; and
Whereas on the ninth day of the ninth month of each year since 1999, communities around the world have observed International Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Awareness Day:
Now, therefore, be it Resolved, That the Senate--
(1) designates September 9, 2009, as `National Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders Awareness Day'; and
(2) calls upon the people of the United States--
(A) to observe National Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders Awareness Day with appropriate ceremonies--
(i) to promote awareness of the effects of prenatal exposure to alcohol;
(ii) to increase compassion for individuals affected by prenatal exposure to alcohol;
(iii) to minimize further effects of prenatal exposure to alcohol; and
(iv) to ensure healthier communities across the United States; and
(B) to observe a moment of reflection on the ninth hour of September 9, 2009, to remember that during the 9 months of pregnancy a woman should not consume alcohol.
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