Prevention of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome: raising awareness of the health effects of alcohol on the unborn child. Alcohol consumption among pregnant women is a growing problem not only in the United States, but also throughout the rest of the world. Billions are spent treating birth defects and other symptoms linked to prenatal alcohol use. Statistics show that the treatment of this disease costs the United States $6 billion per year (Burd & Hardwood, 2004); adjust that to the current rate of inflation and it could reach $8 million. The Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) Community Resource Center estimated the estimated lifetime costs of a child with the FAS disorder at $5.4 million in 2003. This includes direct costs (surgical corrections of congenital malformations linked to FAS, cardiac and hearing malformations and moderate malformations to severe mental retardation) and indirect costs (health care, special education, psychotherapy, counseling, crime and social protection). These extremely high costs clearly justify significant prevention efforts not only on the part of the government but also on the part of the public. To achieve this goal, the public and the community must be informed about FAS, women of childbearing age; in particular, adolescents and school-age children should and must be informed about the effects of alcohol on an unborn child even before they discover alcohol on their own (Donnelly, Mowery, & McCarver, 1998). We start by raising awareness of the issues through educational campaigns. . “Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder, Florida Resource Guide,” a brochure jointly produced by the Florida Department of Children and Families, the Florida Department of Health and the Center for Prevention and Early Intervention at the University of the State of Florida, says this about F. .... middle of article......DG (1998) Knowledge and misconceptions among inner-city African American mothers regarding substance use alcohol and drugs. American Journal of Drug & Alcohol Abuse, 24(4), 675-683.Glik, D., Prelip, M., Myerson, A., Eilers, K., Preventing Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Using Campaigns targeted distribution communities. Health Promotion Practice, 9 (1), 93-103. Lupton, C., Burd, L. and Harwood, R. (2004), Costs of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders. American Journal of Medical Genetics Part C: Seminars in Medical Genetics, 127C: 42–50. doi: 10.1002/ajmg.c.30015 Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder, Florida Resource Guide (nd) Retrieved January 26, 2011 from http://fasdcenter.samhsa.gov/document/FASDGuide12_021.pdfThe Economic Cost of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome FAS Community Resource Center 2003. Retrieved January 26, 2011 from http://www.fascenter.samhsa.gov.publications/economic cost.