Address to Launch Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Disorder

Hon Peter Dunne
Associate Minister of Health

Speech

Address to Launch Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Disorder Resource for Health Professionals

9am Thursday, 9 September
Auckland

Good morning.

Thank for inviting me to address this Forum today.

It obviously goes with out saying that we are obviously all very aware of the damage drinking during pregnancy can cause.

In that regard, may I acknowledge the work done by Alcohol Healthwatch, the College of Midwives and the wider sector in pushing forward work on Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Disorder to support parents, sufferers and advocates.

Because understanding of FASD prevention, diagnosis and management are still in their infancy, the people working in this area are trailblazers.

It means they are almost invariably improvising and piloting new ideas – and often without the infrastructural support that comes with established medical and community understanding.

So there is a lot of good work going on that you should be rightfully proud of.

And unfortunately, based on international estimates of one in every hundred babies being born with FASD, it has been estimated that about New Zealand 500 babies are born with it every year.

Part of the difficulty in obtaining accurate New Zealand information on this tragic condition is linked to the difficulty in actually diagnosing FASD.

Diagnosis generally requires a specialist, multidisciplinary assessment using agreed criteria and I understand Alcohol Healthwatch’s Christine Rogan is going to talk to you today about the major project she undertook with a range of specialists to look at how New Zealand could establish a multidisciplinary approach.

I, however, am here today as the Associate Minister of Health with responsibility for alcohol to launch Alcohol and Pregnancy: A Practical Guide for Health Professionals, a new resource for health professionals to support them in dealing with the issues of alcohol in pregnancy.

I hope this resource will take you one step further towards developing that infrastructure.

I would like to thank ALAC for providing funding to print and distribute this important resource.

I would also like to thank the Paediatric Society of New Zealand for providing their endorsement for this document and I am sure this is a reflection of the avoidable harm they see caused to the children and families they deal with.

The Government is concerned about the adverse effects of alcohol in New Zealand.

As you are all well aware, the harms are wide-ranging, and affect many New Zealander in some way.

Some of the most high-profile harms arise from intoxication, including violence, road accidents, falls and alcohol poisoning.

Other harms are a result of the addictive nature of alcohol.

Dependence can have particularly harmful effects on the lives of affected individuals, their families and colleagues.

Still other harms, particularly cancer and other chronic diseases, result from regular consumption of alcohol over a number of years.

During pregnancy however, no level of consumption should be worth the risk to the unborn child – and that is a message that needs to continually be driven home.

The Government’s concerns about alcohol-related harm are reflected in its support for the Law Commission’s wide ranging review of liquor legislation, the first in over 20 years.

After considering the Law Commission’s report, the Government has announced its response and is now preparing a new bill that that will be introduced to Parliament next month.

Legislation, however, can only go a small way to addressing many of the harms from alcohol, particularly in terms of preventing and managing FASD.

The previous government began developing a plan to prevent and manage FASD.

When I took over this portfolio, I agreed that something needed to be done about FASD, but did not think that yet another plan was necessary.

Instead I agreed that the Ministry should begin work immediately on some real actions that could make a real difference.

The priorities are for the development of a clear position statement on alcohol and pregnancy, better advice for health professionals, better data collection and improved diagnosis.

This new resource for health professionals is the first of those real actions and one that I think is particularly important.

The health professionals among us are the experts on the front line with the potential to have a significant influence on the lives of the people they see.

You know better than I the risks of drinking in pregnancy and the impact it can have on the lives of the victims and their families as children grow up suffering the effects of prenatal exposure to alcohol.

This should be general knowledge by now.

What surprised me, however, was the finding from the Ministry of Health’s latest Alcohol and Drug Use Survey that, of women who had been pregnant in the last three years, only around three quarters had been advised by a health professional not to drink during pregnancy.

It is hardly surprising then, that the same survey found that 29% of women who had been pregnant in the last three years reported that they had consumed alcohol during their pregnancy.

Unlike many other health risks, this is not one that has an ethnic or socioeconomic gradient.

Non-Maori and non-Pacific women were significantly more likely to report having consumed alcohol while pregnant compared with those in the total population.

In addition, there was no significant difference in the prevalence of drinking alcohol while pregnant among women who had been pregnant in the past three years by neighbourhood deprivation.

Although not significant, those in the least deprived areas had the highest prevalence of drinking during pregnancy, at 35 percent.

The lack of advice to pregnant women occurs in the context of research indicating that there are significant barriers that prevent GPs from discussing alcohol issues with their patients generally.

One of the main barriers they face is feeling ill-equipped to deal with alcohol issues.

Recent research has indicated that health professionals see a need for additional information in this area.

This new resource should help with that first step.

Health professionals are just one link in the chain of avoiding FASD and supporting those affected.

Therefore, in closing, I would like to simply thank you all for your interest and the work you have done to date and the work I hope you will continue to do to in this important area.

ENDS