Drinking During Pregnancy Puts 140 Alaskan Newborns at Risk Each Year
Office of FAS Releases New Data
Data just released by the Department of Health and Social Services provides new information about babies born at risk of birth defects because their mothers drank alcohol while pregnant. The Fetal Alcohol Syndrome 2001 Status Update: Alaska's Response to Fetal Alcohol Syndrome provides the latest information from the Alaska FAS Surveillance Project.
(click here to download a PDF version of the Status Update)
The data indicates that 1.4 in every 1,000 babies born alive in Alaska each year has fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS). For other alcohol-related birth defects besides FAS, the prevalence rate is higher: 12.6 per 1,000 live births. The Status Update indicates a higher identified FAS prevalence rate among Alaska Natives and American Indians, at 4.8 per 1,000 live births - a reflection of both greater focus on FAS, and greater risk, in this population.
These numbers equate to 14 identified new cases of FAS each year and 126 cases of children born at risk for alcohol-related birth defects. The actual prevalence of these births could be higher than the data currently show.
FAS Program Manager Diane Casto says "we are glad to have this comprehensive data about FAS prevalence rates available, because it helps direct our efforts to make the greatest difference. As we gain information about the extent of this problem, we can more effectively target efforts to inform the public about the dangers of drinking alcohol during pregnancy."
The Alaska FAS Surveillance Project is part of a collaborative effort with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and four other states: Arizona, Colorado, New York, and Wisconsin. The goal of this cooperative interstate effort is to develop comparable data in these states, enabling meaningful comparisons. Alaska is the first of these five states to publish state prevalence rates for FAS.
Other data included in the 2001 Status Update provides a first look at trends and service delivery patterns of the State's developing FAS Diagnostic Team Network. With six community-based teams providing diagnostic services, over 120 diagnoses of fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD) were recorded from June 2000-July 2001.
The Status Update provides comprehensive information about Alaska's five-year FAS Project, including community-based FASD grantee projects, interagency partnerships, new project activities planned for 2002, and other information. The Status Update is available on the Health and Social Services Web site at: http://www.hss.state.ak.us/fas/.
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For more information, please contact L. Diane Casto, FAS Program Manager, at (907) 465-3033, or toll free at (877) 393-2287.
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