Though Election Day isn’t until November, two local agencies have teamed up as running mates to kick off a yearlong campaign designed to save thousands of babies every year from a condition that is 100 percent preventable.
The platform is Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder and the candidates spearheading change are The Resource Center and the Chautauqua Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Council.
On September 9, in recognition of International FASD Awareness Day, members of both parties, TRC and CASAC, held a media campaign kickoff – a rally of sorts, with signs, banners and buttons to help get their message out and garner as much support as they can.
“This collaboration is very important for the community,” said TRC Executive Director Paul Cesana.
Operating with a campaign war chest from TRC Foundation, the purpose of the media campaign is to educate the community at large about the dangers associated with women who drink alcohol when pregnant.
“No safe level has been determined for a pregnant woman to use alcohol,” said Patricia Munson, Executive Director of CASAC, “and we want people to simply understand it is totally preventable simply by not using alcohol while you’re pregnant.”
To help get this message out to the people, both groups will be saturating the airwaves with radio and television presentations and public service announcements, placing articles in local newspapers and magazines, and putting up billboards across the region.
“To keep this message going,” reiterated Pat, “because we know you have to keep repeating, repeating, repeating, and what a wonderful opportunity to keep this message in front of the public.”
Part of that message includes the fact that about 40,000 babies born in the United States every year are affected by FASD. Infants and children with FASD face a wide range of physical, cognitive and behavioral challenges that last throughout their lives. Those challenges can include mental retardation, birth defects, abnormal facial features, growth problems, and overall academic disadvantages.
“People need to make that connection between alcohol and its lifelong effects on the child,” said Michelle Williams, TRC’s Director of Mental Health Services. “This affects the whole community, and education, awareness and prevention is the key.”
During her campaign speech at the podium, Michelle went on to say how difficult FASD is to diagnose. Dr. Tariq Khan from Southern Tier Pediatrics echoed those sentiments during his campaign presentation as well.
“If you don’t have the family history of the child, it is very hard to diagnosis the kids,” said Dr. Khan, “and therefore the proper diagnosis is key.”
He went on to say that alcohol can damage a fetus at any stage of pregnancy, including in the earliest weeks before a woman even knows she’s pregnant.
“The pediatrician’s role is more of a quarterback role,” said Dr. Khan. “We are the first people to care of the infants and encounter these problems. Those affected by FASD ranks just as high – if not higher, says some research – than the number of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder. It’s time as a nation we start looking at these kids.”
He went on to congratulate CASAC and TRC for taking lead roles in this yearlong campaign and bringing the issue to focus – an issue and message TRC and CASAC will work to ensure lasts beyond November and well beyond the official end of the campaign.
For more information, phone TRC at 483-2344 or CASAC at 664-3608.