Cape Town - Deputy Social Development Minister Hendrietta Bogopane-Zulu has warned women who drink alcohol while pregnant that they risk giving birth to unhealthy babies as a result of Foetal Alcohol Syndrome Disorder (FASD).
Bogopane-Zulu was speaking at the Stellenbosch Town Hall on Saturday, where she met women, youth, parents of children with FASD, and tavern and shebeen owners as part of the national 9-9-9 campaign to educate women on the dangers of alcohol while pregnant.
FASD results in significant birth defects and developmental disabilities that can’t be cured post-birth. South Africa has been identified by the World Health Organization as having the highest reported prevalence of FASD in the world, at 111 cases per 1 000 people. The global average is 7.7 per 1 000.
The department has partnered with the Beer Association of South Africa in the campaign for the second year in a row. The aim of the 9-9-9 campaign is to visit all nine provinces over nine days during September before World FASD day on Friday.
Among the concerns raised by Stellenbosch residents was that of insufficient community support.
One speaker, Luthando Mxesibe, said the best way to keep the FASD issue at the top of people’s agenda was to keep hammering the message all year through, not just when the day to mark the disorder was coming up.
Meanwhile, Social Development MEC Sharna Fernandez said the provincial department funds specialist organisations to implement preventative and early intervention services within schools to increase awareness of risks involved in substance use.
Answering a question from ANC provincial social development spokesperson Gladys Bakubaku-Vos on the prevalence of underage drinking, Fernandez said: “The focus is not limited to alcohol use, it includes other substances as well.”
Fernandez said the department allocated R259 million to the nonprofit organisation sector for services regarding prevention, early intervention, community-based, inpatient and after-care level to youth and adults in the substance use disorder field between 2019 and 2022.
mwangi.githahu@inl.co.za