IN the efforts to promote responsible drinking during pregnancy, the Eastern Cape Liquor Board together with FASfacts, Distell and Rhodes University commemorated the International Day of Foetal Alcohol Syndrome in Mdantsane last Thursday.
In the packed NU 15 community hall, stakeholders were stern in their messages to women on the dangers of drinking during pregnancy.
There is currently a research project under way in Mdantsane on the prevalence of foetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) and the day provided an opportunity to launch the project and communicate the preliminary findings.
Delivering the keynote address, CEO of FASfacts Francois Grobbelaar said that alcohol damages the brain of the unborn foetus and that no amount of alcohol consumption was safe during pregnancy.
One of the beneficiaries of the pregnant mentorship programme, Siphokazi Jobela, who became part of the programme when she was five months pregnant, said “I had no idea that a pregnant women were not supposed to consume alcohol due to the damages it causes the unborn baby. I became enlightened and stopped drinking immediately and now I am able to empower my community with this knowledge.”
The Eastern Cape Liquor Board hopes to enlighten communities about what is going around them, and pledges to continue for fight the abuse of alcohol.
