October 01, 2021
Data gap hinders fetal alcohol response
The Associate Commissioner for Children is backing a call from Māori public health advocates Hāpai Te Hauora for immediate action from the government on fetal alcohol spectrum disorder.
Glenis Philip-Barbara says the condition affects about 3 to 5 percent of live births a year, or up to 3000 pēpi.
It’s a lifetime condition, but there is very little support for whānau dealing with the consequences.
She says more research is needed into its prevalence.
“In Canada they found young people with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder were 19 times more likely to be incarcerated than other young people, and when they looked into youth detention centres in Australia they found a third of the young people in them had FASD, undiagnosed, so we really need this prevalence data, we need to understand what we are dealing with in Aotearoa and how do we support whānau,” Ms Philip-Barbara says.