Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Prevalence in Alaska: New Findings From The FAS Surveillance Project

Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) was first identified as a clinical condition in 1973. FAS has drawn considerable attention in Alaska. During the 1980’s, the Alaska Area Native Health Service of the Indian Health Service began FAS surveillance among beneficiaries. In 1990, the Alaska Area Native Health Service joined the Alaska Department of Health and Social Services and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in establishing the Alaska FAS Prevention Project. The Alaska FAS Prevention Project developed methods for FAS case identification from multiple data sources, documented issues associated with improved FAS surveillance and published the first population-based FAS prevalence for the state(1).