FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 17, 2010
Contact: Jolene Gurtis
(850) 386-9100 or
Florida Launches Public Awareness Campaign During Children’s Awareness Month
TALLAHASSEE – Health care providers, advocates and community partners from across the state are joining together to launch a campaign to reduce fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD) in Florida. June – Children’s Awareness Month – focuses attention on the safety and protection of children and, according to advocates, offers a timely opportunity to inform everyone of the dangers associated with consuming alcohol while pregnant. , Fla.
FASD is an umbrella term describing the possible effects that may occur in an individual whose mother drank during pregnancy. FASD is the leading known cause of mental retardation, and a leading known cause of learning disabilities and birth defects. However, FASD is fully preventable. A recent study shows that one in 100 newborns suffer from FASD due to prenatal alcohol use each year.
The statewide public awareness campaign, titled “Florida Fights FASD,” is sponsored by the Florida Developmental Disabilities Council, Inc. (FDDC). The campaign mission is to engage and educate Floridians about the dangers of alcohol consumption during pregnancy and ultimately, to reduce the number of children born with fetal alcohol spectrum disorders in Florida.
“Every year, more than 2,000 babies are born with FASD in Florida,” said Kathryn Shea, Florida Fights FASD advisory board member and president and CEO of The Florida Center for Child and Family Development in Sarasota, the state’s first and only FASD diagnostic and intervention clinic. “Knowledge is power, which is why it is so important to increase awareness of the life-long negative effects that can be caused by drinking alcohol while pregnant.”
The Florida Fights FASD campaign hopes to eliminate alcohol consumption by pregnant women and educate families and communities by implementing awareness, prevention, education, intervention and advocacy efforts throughout Florida.
“While there is no cure for FASD, it is 100 percent preventable by abstaining from alcohol use while pregnant,” said Dr. Wil Blechman, a retired Miami physician and Florida Fights FASD advisory board member. “We hope that through education and increasing public awareness we can help ensure the birth of healthy babies.”
The mission of the Florida Developmental Disabilities Council, Inc. is to advocate and promote meaningful participation in all aspects of life for Floridians with developmental disabilities. To learn more about the FDDC and the Florida Fights FASD campaign, visit www.fddc.org or call toll-free 1-888-488-8633.
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