Booze kids horror

South Africa has the highest reported rate of foetal alcohol syndrome.

According to the Foundation for Alcohol Related Research‚ 6 million people in South Africa are irrevocably affected by having been exposed to alcohol in the womb.

Studies undertaken by the foundation‚ which has gained world-wide recognition for its work‚ have shown that in parts of the Northern Cape the prevalence rate is as high as 18%. In Gauteng‚ it stands at about 2.7%.

Once thought to affect mainly the children of farmworkers in the Western Cape‚ foetal alcohol spectrum disorders — of which the syndrome is the most severe — are on the rise in urban areas and among young‚ black mothers.