SOUTH AFRICA - SA HAS THE HIGHEST FOETAL ALCOHOL SYNDROME RATE IN THE WORLD

South Africa has the highest Foetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) rate in the world.  That’s a according to the Foundation for Alcohol Related Research (FARR).

An estimated 3 million children are born with FAS every year in South Africa.

FAS is caused by women drinking alcohol during pregnancy.

Ahead of Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder Day on the 9th of September, FARR has embarked on a programme together with it’s partners to raise awareness on this syndrome.

CEO of FARR, Leana Olivier says the message is not getting to everybody and in some cases pregnant women are being told something completely different.

“You quite often still find a lot of doctors telling pregnant women that it’s fine to drink one or two glasses of alcohol during the day while the correct message is no alcohol is safe during pregnancy.”

Olivier adds: “We always say rather be safe than sorry. The important thing to remember is you might know how your body breaks down alcohol while you are not in a pregnant state, but when a women is pregnant the body goes through a lot changes. Women must remember that they are no longer eating and drinking for one. So, what we are saying is when pregnant women drink alcohol they might think that their body can cope with it but actually their unborn baby’s immature liver also has to with deal with alcohol, that's the scary part of it.”