An alcohol harm prevention expert is calling for change after a damning report estimated the cost of alcohol harm to be at $9.1 billion dollars.
The report was commissioned by the Ministry of Health in an attempt to estimate the cost of alcohol harm in New Zealand.
It found the cost of fetal alcohol spectrum disorder at $4.8 billion, $4 billion in loss of productivity, and $2.1 billion in the societal cost of road crashes.
So half the cost is FASD. Reducing that will have huge benefits both economically and quality of life for those affected.
He said there was “really good strong evidence” and “international consensus” that the price, availability, and marketing of alcohol were “the most effective” things that New Zealand could change to reduce harm.
Not if we’re talking about FASD. FASD is not caused by me drinking. It is not caused me most people drinking. It is caused by moderate to heavy drinking by pregnant women in later stages of pregnancy. Eric Crampton tweets relevant stats here. Basically around 1% of pregnant women (who themselves are 1% of the population) drink heavily after the first trimester. Those pregnant women tend to be younger, lower income Maori or Pacific, smokers, have had previous children, pregnancies were unplanned and have no secondary qualifications.
Their heavy drinking during pregnancy does impose huge costs on society, and on the kids born with FASD who often go on to have wretched lives.
So how do you best make change here? You need to target 1 in every 10,000 New Zealanders. Do you do that with measures that impact everyone such as trading hours, price or do you look to do interventions aimed at a very small group of New Zealanders who can fairly easily be identified as likely to drink heavily in pregnancy?
David Farrar runs Curia Market Research, a specialist opinion polling and research agency, and the popular Kiwiblog where this article was sourced. He previously worked in the Parliament for eight years, serving two National Party Prime Ministers and three Opposition Leaders.
6 comments:
You seem to be suggesting a breach of the treaty here David That will never do!
I always understood the greater risk to be at early often unrealised stages of pregnancy. If later should be very amenable to attention, but of course this must not be race biassed and so cannot be applied effectively. What amazes me is that so many in what must be the most difficult financial circumsatnces, manage to drink and, even more amazing, smoke.The prospect of a retarded child terrifies most folk. With the health service permeated by the for maori by maori approach there will be little discouragement of unwanted births, many children from which will later add to the maori roll.
I think you will find that research, independent from any alcohol funding, shows that the 1st trimester is also high risk. And research says small amounts of alcohol at any time during the pregnancy can affect the undeveloped brain. You seem to be suggesting that its only heavy drinking beyond the 1st trimester. I cannot agree that with the figure of 1 in 10,000 (at the end of the X feed). By suggesting that the figure is that small implies there isn't a problem.
I would like to see an alternative piece written by Nathan Wallace, a leading voice on this subject in New Zealand
It would be good to have a warning about this horrible disorder in every outlet selling alcohol including also medical and health facilities. Alcohol outlets and others making money from alcohol could be taxed and all alcohol advertising make a mention of it.
I had a small relative who was afflicted by FAS. In his short life he suffered in being an underachiever and finally took his own life.
The problem is the number of young women who know that getting pregnant is the road to welfare earning them far more than if they had to work. They have no sense of responsibility so life is just partying, drinking, drugs and sex at the taxpayer's expense.
And we need to stop incentivising single mothers breeding, which will assist this and other anti-social behaviours immeasurably.
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