A Global Health Perspective
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 16 September 2016
Fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) is increasingly recognized as a growing public health issue worldwide. Although more research is needed on both the diagnosis and treatment of FASD, and a broader and more culturally diverse range of services are needed to support those who suffer from FASD and their families, both research and practice for FASD raise significant ethical issues. In response, from the point of view of both research and clinical neuroethics, we provide a framework that emphasizes the need to maximize benefits and minimize harm, promote justice, and foster respect for persons within a global context.
1. World Health Organization. Global strategy to reduce the harmful use of alcohol [WHO website]; 2010; available at http://www.who.int/substance_abuse/msbalcstragegy.pdf (last accessed on 29 July 2015).
2. Popova, S, Chambers, C. Fetal alcohol spectrum disorders must be recognized globally as a large public health problem. International Journal of Alcohol and Drug Research 2014;3(1):1–3.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
3. Bell, E, Andrew, G, Di Pietro, N, Chudley, AE, Reynolds, JN, Racine, E. It’s a shame! Stigma against fetal alcohol spectrum disorder: Examining the ethical implications for public health practices and policies. Public Health Ethics 2015;8(2):1–13.Google Scholar
4. Stein DJ, Illes J. Beyond scientism and scepticism: An integrative approach to global mental health. Frontiers in Neuroscience 2015. doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2015.00166.
5. Parry, C, London, L, Myers, B. Delays in South Africa’s plans to ban advertising. Lancet 2014;383(9933):1972.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
6. Mathews, R, Thorn, M, Giorgi, C. Vested interests in addiction research and policy: Is the alcohol industry delaying government action on alcohol health warning labels in Australia? Addiction 2013;108:1889–96.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
7. Thomas G, Cook JL, Poole N, Gonneau G. The effectiveness of alcohol warning labels for reducing drinking in pregnancy: A brief review [CanFASD website]; available at http://www.canfasd.ca/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/Warning-Label-Issue-Brief-FINAL.pdf (last accessed 29 July 2015).
8. Stein, DJ. Academic-industry partnerships in alcohol and gambling: A continuum of benefits and harms. Israel Journal of Psychiatry and Related Sciences 2015;52:81–4.Google ScholarPubMed
9. Todorow, M, Paris, K, Fantus, E. Ethical considerations when communicating a diagnosis of a fetal alcohol spectrum disorder to a child. Journal of Population Therapeutics and Clinical Pharmacology 2011;19(3):e361–8.Google Scholar
10. Taylor H. Helping people with learning disabilities exercise their right to autonomy. Learn Disability Practice 2014:32–7.
11. Nuwagaba E, Rule P. Navigating the ethical maze in disability research: Ethical contestations in an African context. Disability and Society 2015:255–69.
12. Wechsberg, WM, Luseno, W, Ellerson, RM. Reaching women substance abusers in diverse settings: Stigma and access to treatment 30 years later. Substance Use & Misuse 2008;43(8–9):1277–9.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
13. See note 3, Bell et al. 2015.
14. See note 3, Bell et al. 2015.
15. Poole, N, Greaves, L. Mother and child reunion: Achieving balance in policies affecting substance-using mothers and their children, 2009. In: Rutman, D, Callahan, M, Lundquist, A, Jackson, S, Field, B, eds. Substance Use and Pregnancy: Conceiving Women in the Policy-Making Process. Vol. 112. Ottawa: Status of Women Canada; 2000.Google Scholar
16. Wood, K, Jewkes, R. Blood blockages and scolding nurses: Barriers to adolescent contraceptive use in South Africa. Reproductive Health Matters 2006;14:109–18.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
17. Parry C. Substance abuse in South Africa: Focusing on young persons. Prepared for the WHO/UNDCP Regional Consultation—Global Initiative on Primary Prevention of Substance Abuse Among Young People; 1998.
18. Jonsson, E, Salmon, A, Warren, KR. The international charter on prevention of fetal alcohol spectrum disorder. Lancet Global Health 2014;2(3):e135–e137.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed