What statistics are available on the incidence of foetal alcohol syndrome.

Continuous Morbidity Records (CMR), Scottish Morbidity Records (SMR), Pre-school and Child Health Surveillance systems and the Special Needs system allow recording of diagnosis or other concerns, including Foetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS). However, it is recognised that, at present, prevalence of FAS is probably under-recorded in national data.Information from Scottish Morbidity Records (SMR) indicated the following numbers of babies born with Foetal Alcohol Syndrome over the past four years.1998 | 3
1999 | 2
2000 | 6
2001 | 3
Information from the Child Health Surveillance systems indicated that only two children born in 2001 were diagnosed with Foetal Alcohol Syndrome. The other recording systems are at earlier stages of development and thus any data on FAS is unreliable at the present time.Notes:1. Information is available centrally only for those patients seen in General Practice or in NHS hospitals. 2. Information on patients discharged from acute non-obstetric, non-psychiatric hospitals is available from SMR 01 and on patients discharged from neonatal units from SMR 11.3. Information about GP consultations is gathered centrally as part of CMR in General Practice (CMR). Currently 81 GP practices contribute to CMR in Scotland out of a total of 1,058. CMR practices cover 8% of the Scottish population and are considered to be broadly representative of age, sex, and deprivation category and rural/urban mix. However, the number of FAS cases recorded is very low and is unlikely to reflect the true prevalence across Scotland.4. Ten NHS boards currently participate in the Pre-school Child Health Surveillance system accounting for some 80% of the pre-school population. The School Child Health surveillance system is relatively new with only three NHS boards and one NHS trust having implemented the system. Because of the variation both in national coverage and in recording practices, it is not possible, at present, to regard them as present as sound sources of data on FAS .5. The Special Needs System is another potential new source of information on FAS but not all NHS boards currently contribute data.