Michael ThornThe Foundation for Alcohol Research and Education (FARE) launched its Australian Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder Action Plan on 12 September at Parliament House, Canberra.
FASD is the leading preventable cause of non-genetic, developmental disability in Australia, which until recently has been largely overlooked by all levels of Government.
However in recent years, much has been done to improve our understanding of FASD and its impact on children and their families.
The Commonwealth Government has allocated more than $2.5 million to fund FASD related projects, including the development of a FASD diagnostic instrument and a full scale prevalence study in Western Australia’s Fitzroy Valley.
The Commonwealth has also taken its first tentative steps towards mandating warning labels on alcohol products around the dangers of consuming alcohol during pregnancy.
FARE itself has put more than $2 million towards tackling FASD including $500,000 into a range of FASD specific research and projects. This includes supporting the establishment of the first Australian FASD diagnostic clinic at Westmead Hospital in Sydney, and supporting the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre to investigate options for assisting women who are pregnant and alcohol dependent.
FARE has also been actively campaigning for a range of health warnings on alcohol products, raising awareness of the National Health and Medical Research Centre (NHMRC) alcohol guidelines, and lobbying for action to address alcohol’s ever increasing availability, aggressive marketing and affordability.
And there are others too; the Commonwealth Parliament has commissioned an Inquiry into FASD and will report in coming weeks.
Against this backdrop FARE released its Australian Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders Action Plan – 2013-2016.
At the heart of the plan are some simple propositions:
- Raise awareness about the risks of consuming alcohol when pregnant
- Prevent and the reduce the incidence of FASD
- Improve knowledge among health professionals about FASD’s diagnosis and its treatment, and
- Provide services and support to those affected by FASD and their carers
The plan is FARE’s way of focussing on what needs to be done to address this often ignored disability.
It is also a roadmap that includes clear priorities, performance indicators, and actions to address FASD across the spectrum of prevention and early intervention, through information collection and evaluation.
This three-year plan proposes five broad courses of action to: Increase community awareness of FASD and prevent prenatal exposure; improve diagnostic capacity for FASD in Australia; enable people with FASD to achieve their full potential, including supporting their carers; to improve data collection to understand the extent of FASD in Australia; and to close the gap on the higher prevalence of FASD among Indigenous people.
It has been costed at $37 million and shows how, for a modest investment, the lives of many can be significantly improved and many more saved from the lifelong consequences of living with this entirely avoidable disability.
This is a comprehensive, realistic and deliverable plan that has been thoroughly researched, is based on the best available evidence, and has been scrutinised by FASD experts, including family representatives, researchers and clinicians.
Having launched this plan, FARE hopes the House of Representatives FASD Inquiry will use the plan to help finalise its report and formulate its recommendations to the Parliament.
Governments around Australia should also begin to make provision in their budgets for the implementation of the plan’s recommendations.
To that end, FARE is extremely pleased with the release of the WA Education and Health Committee report. On 20 September, the final report of the Education and Health Committee inquiry into FASD was submitted to the West Australian Parliament. Most significant is the depth of its recommendations and that these are line with the actions proposed by FARE in the Australian FASD Action Plan.
The report made 22 wide ranging recommendations including the adoption of the Australian FASD diagnostic instrument and the classification of FASD as a disability by June 2013. The report also called for the introduction of mandatory health warning labels for alcohol products sold in Western Australia, including a message about the risks of consuming alcohol while pregnant and that this should be accompanied by a public education campaign.
FARE hopes that the WA Government will now move to implement the recommendations and that in turn this will provide further impetus for work to be taken at a national level. For its part, the Commonwealth Government can give real strength to the call for action by immediately releasing the $850,000 need to implement the Australian FASD diagnostic instrument. It should also direct that FASD be included in planning for the forthcoming National Disability Insurance Scheme, and finally, make absolutely clear to the alcohol industry that it expects evidence-based pregnancy warnings on all alcohol products.
With these actions, the Government can demonstrate its commitment to addressing FASD in Australia and redress this invisible disability.
For information, counselling or assistance regarding FASD, contact:
- Russell Family Fetal Alcohol Disorders Association on 1800rffada or visit www.rffada.org
- National Organisation for Fetal Alcohol Syndrome & Related Disorders on 1300 306 238 or visit www.nofasard.org.au
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