The peak body for Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Services in the Northern Territory has raised concerns regarding the lack of screening and early intervention for children and young people suffering from Foetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD).
Coinciding with FASD Awareness Day on Monday, the Aboriginal Medical Services Alliance Northern Territory (AMSANT) has called on the Territory and Federal governments to establish a multidisciplinary neurodevelopmental assessment service in Darwin.
AMSANT says this facility in the Top End would complement the one in Mparntwe/Alice Springs, operated by the Central Australian Aboriginal Congress (Congress).
Chief executive Dr John Paterson said FASD was a neurological condition people suffered from through no fault of their own, and a comprehensive and adequately resourced multidisciplinary assessment would help plug the gap in the system to allow all children to have equal access to screening services early on.
"AMSANT supports the establishment of a multidisciplinary neurodevelopmental assessment in the Top End as the next step in ensuring that all children and young people can have access to this vital service across the NT," Dr Paterson said.
AMSANT said an accurate diagnosis for children and young people required a comprehensive assessment with neuropsychological and other specialist allied health expertise working together with paediatricians.
"Without a multidisciplinary team these complex assessments are not possible as a paediatrician alone is not adequate, but as it stands, there is not a comprehensive assessment service funded outside of Central Australia," Dr Paterson said.
Whilst NDIS provides support to eligible children after their diagnosis, it doesn't fund the assessment.
"There is a clear unmet need for early intervention services with sufficient remote providers funded through the NDIS that would benefit many Aboriginal children who have developmental vulnerabilities and undiagnosed FASD," Dr Paterson said.
454 children and young people have been seen by Congress since 2018; 122 were diagnosed with FASD and a further 17 with the severe Foetal Alcohol Syndrome.
It said 30 per cent of the children they attend to at Alice Springs Youth Detention Centre have FASD, in line with the rates witnessed in the clinic.
"We know that the behavioural symptoms of FASD are likely to put children who suffer from it at risk of intersection with the criminal justice system, and intervention needs to occur much earlier than inside detention centres," Dr Paterson said.
"These children will have better lives if they are provided with the right support at a very young age and it is the responsibility of all levels of government to ensure we can provide that support."
Last week, Indigenous healthcare professional, Dr Mark Wenitong, teamed up with DrinkWise to urge women to abstain from drinking in the lead up and during pregnancy, as well as breastfeeding, in the lead up to International FASD Awareness Day.
Encouragingly, research shows 87 per cent of women between the ages of 18 and 44 believe no alcohol should be consumed during pregnancy, up from 77 per cent in 2018, whilst data from the Australian Institute of Health and Wellbeing in 2021 showed over 91 per cent of First Nations women did not consume alcohol in the first 20 weeks of pregnancy.
96.6 per cent of women who identified as First Nations did not consume alcohol after 20 weeks of pregnancy, up from 95.9 per cent in 2019.
More information on DrinkWise's annual FASD campaign can be found via DrinkWise.org.au
International Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) Awareness Day is a global initiative designed to raise awareness about the dangers of drinking during pregnancy and the plight of individuals and families who are affected or have been impacted by the disorder. September 9th was chosen so that on the ninth day of the ninth month of the year, the world will remember that during the nine months of pregnancy a woman should abstain from alcohol.
