A pint of beer won't be the only thing women visiting a bar in Alaska will have access to as a state-funded program is gearing up to give them free pregnancy test kits.
The state-funded program is being led by University of Alaska and from Dec. 2014 onwards, will put pregnancy test kits free of charge in the restrooms of 20 restaurants and bars across the state.
The program will cost the government $400,000 and will run for two years. The program aims to tackle the increasing rate of fetal alcohol syndrome in the state, which can result in physical and mental defects in the fetus owing to the high level of alcohol consumption while a woman is pregnant.
According to researchers, Alaska has the highest rate of fetal alcohol syndrome with women in the state 20 percent more likely to indulge in binge drinking during pregnancy when compared to the Canadian average.
The program has been started by Senator Pete Kelly who opines that putting out free pregnancy test kits in restrooms of bars will make women pause and think before they drink.
"If you have people who are binge drinking or chronic drinkers, we're hesitant to say use birth control as your protection against fetal alcohol syndrome because, as I say, binge drinking is a problem. If you think you can take birth control, and then binge drink, and hope not to produce a fetal alcohol syndrome baby," said Kelly, when proposing the law in March this year.
Per the research proposal, nearly 5,000 pregnancy test kits will be distributed in both rural and urban communities over the first 12 months. The kits are expected to cost the state $10.31 each whereas the 20 dispensers with "tailored FASD prevention messages" will cost $1,000 each. The dispensers are wall mounted and are 1-foot wide and 2-feet tall.
According to David Driscoll, director of Institute of Circumpolar Health Studies at the University of Alaska, the study is set to trace how women will respond to alcohol caveats when these are coupled with pregnancy test kits. Healthy Brains for Children, a non-profit organization from Minnesota, U.S., founded by Jody Allen Crowe will also help out in the project.
The Minnesota-based organization was instrumental in installing the first-ever pregnancy test dispenser at a bar's restroom in Mankato in 2012 to help combat fetal alcohol syndrome.
"This is not a strategy for the chronic alcoholic who is drinking regardless of whatever message they see," said Crowe to ADN. "This is really focused on the 50 percent of unexpected pregnancies, to find out they are pregnant as early as possible."
Whether women end up deploying the pregnancy test kits and pay heed to the warning remains to be seen.
