Gumleaf
March 23rd, 2009, 05:37 PM
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Girls as young as 13 are giving birth to babies with foetal alcohol syndrome that leads to severe learning difficulties, a senior doctor in a remote West Australian township says.
Indigenous Affairs Minister Jenny Macklin's office and public health administrators are calling on the Kimberley community of Halls Creek to ban the sale of alcohol.
Halls Creek Hospital's senior doctor David Shepherd says some teenage girls, themselves born with foetal alcohol syndrome, are giving birth to babies who will have learning hardships.
"We've got ... mothers on the ward here now who are 13, 14-year-old mothers who are foetal alcohol syndrome kids and so they have learning difficulties and problems interacting with people and now they've got their own kids - and it's quite sad," Dr Shepherd told ABC TV.
"I have got a mother who has quite classic features of foetal alcohol syndrome, holding onto a baby that's got foetal alcohol syndrome, and they can't interact with each other."
University of Queensland associate lecturer in public health Lorian Hayes said she had observed children as young as five drinking alcohol.
"It doesn't surprise me at all," she said.
Halls Creek Hospital administrator Robyn Long said alcohol problems in the town of 1,300 people were getting worse, and she has called for alcohol restrictions.
"We need the alcohol to stop so people can have sober brains to think about what they're doing and bring up their kids," she said.
A spokeswoman for Ms Macklin said the federal government supported alcohol restrictions at Fitzroy Crossing, a town about 200 kilometres west of Halls Creek.
"Alcohol abuse has inflicted an horrific level of damage in indigenous communities," the spokeswoman told AAP.
"The Australian government supports the extension of tough alcohol restrictions that have been introduced in Fitzroy Crossing."
She said the federal government gave $8.7 million annually for drug, alcohol and mental health services in the Kimberley.
Another $2.53 million has been committed to establish a rehabilitation service in Wyndham.
"We are determined to take every measure we can to turn around the shocking level of neglect and abuse in many remote Kimberley indigenous communities," the spokeswoman said.
© AAP 2009
Girls as young as 13 are giving birth to babies with foetal alcohol syndrome that leads to severe learning difficulties, a senior doctor in a remote West Australian township says.
Indigenous Affairs Minister Jenny Macklin's office and public health administrators are calling on the Kimberley community of Halls Creek to ban the sale of alcohol.
Halls Creek Hospital's senior doctor David Shepherd says some teenage girls, themselves born with foetal alcohol syndrome, are giving birth to babies who will have learning hardships.
"We've got ... mothers on the ward here now who are 13, 14-year-old mothers who are foetal alcohol syndrome kids and so they have learning difficulties and problems interacting with people and now they've got their own kids - and it's quite sad," Dr Shepherd told ABC TV.
"I have got a mother who has quite classic features of foetal alcohol syndrome, holding onto a baby that's got foetal alcohol syndrome, and they can't interact with each other."
University of Queensland associate lecturer in public health Lorian Hayes said she had observed children as young as five drinking alcohol.
"It doesn't surprise me at all," she said.
Halls Creek Hospital administrator Robyn Long said alcohol problems in the town of 1,300 people were getting worse, and she has called for alcohol restrictions.
"We need the alcohol to stop so people can have sober brains to think about what they're doing and bring up their kids," she said.
A spokeswoman for Ms Macklin said the federal government supported alcohol restrictions at Fitzroy Crossing, a town about 200 kilometres west of Halls Creek.
"Alcohol abuse has inflicted an horrific level of damage in indigenous communities," the spokeswoman told AAP.
"The Australian government supports the extension of tough alcohol restrictions that have been introduced in Fitzroy Crossing."
She said the federal government gave $8.7 million annually for drug, alcohol and mental health services in the Kimberley.
Another $2.53 million has been committed to establish a rehabilitation service in Wyndham.
"We are determined to take every measure we can to turn around the shocking level of neglect and abuse in many remote Kimberley indigenous communities," the spokeswoman said.
© AAP 2009