FETAL ALCOHOL SPECTRUM DISORDER - POVERTY TRAP?

Abstract

The disease or injury poverty trap refers to a relationship between ill-health and poverty in which poverty is a result of ill-health. At the household level, non-poor people may be pushed into poverty by their ill-health as a result of paying for health care in combination with productivity and income losses. Poor people with ill-health may be pushed into deeper or persisting poverty from which they cannot escape. This kind of trap is well reported for infectious diseases and unintentional injuries in developing countries where people have to pay for the cost of health care at the same time that their incomes are likely reduced by ill-health.

Also, the cycle of disability and poverty is mentioned in both developed and developing countries. Generally, people living in poverty are more likely to expose risks of disease, injury, and disability. On the other hand, people with disability and their families spend more on their medical, educational, and daily living needs, but earn less income because of their limited capability or inability, in comparison with people without disability.

However, the concept of poverty trap has not been applied in the field of fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) - a lifelong disability caused by exposure to alcohol during pregnancy and characterised by physical, mental, behavioural and learning disabilities. The incidence of this disorder reportedly varies depending countries, geographic locations, and groups of population. In North America, the incidence of FASD is averagely estimated at 9 per 1000 live births.

In this paper, we report a discussion of available evidence regarding the association between poverty and FASD, and regarding the economic consequences of FASD on individuals and families which may materialize an FASD - poverty trap.