Fetal Alcohol Syndrome: 100% preventable

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Story Published: Jun 25, 2008 at 10:58 PM PDT

Story Updated: Nov 20, 2008 at 10:13 PM PDT

By Matt Loveless

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LEWISTON - She said it's the number one cause of birth defects in the country- and it's 100 percent controllable.

Representative Liz Chavez is back in the Valley, ready to begin her campaign against Fetal Alcohol Syndrome. Wednesday, she and a number of state and health officials addressed the problem, and their solution at the Liquor Store on Main St. in Lewiston.

"This is not anti-alcohol," Chavez said. "This is pro-education and prevention of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome."

It's been a process, but it doesn't sound like Chavez got much opposition to get this into the state's $25-million budget in the fight against substance abuse. Chavez said even beer, wine, and liquor retailers liked the idea.

"Dyke Nally is the Superintendent of the Idaho liquor dispensary, and when I went to him two years ago, he said yes, we're on board," she said. "It was a matter of trying to get all of the other pieces put together."

In Idaho, one in five babies are diagnosed with fetal alcohol syndrome at birth, but Chavez said that number may be even higher, as many mothers won't tell their doctors they had been drinking during the pregnancy. Chavez kicked off the campaign with the first of a number of signs, first aimed at awareness.

"The signs are the first step," she said. "The next step that we are going to take is to try and pull together a state-wide coordination of all fetal alcohol parents, foster parents and caregivers, so these parents can access information, they can access support, they can access other parents who have gone through the same thing."

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