Press release, 26 September 2014
Ladies and gentlemen, participants and honourable guests,
I am delighted having the opportunity to welcome you all to the first international conference of the Baltic States, dedicated to prevention of alcohol use during pregnancy.
I believe this conference will help to highlight the most important facets in this field and, what is of utmost importance, will raise public awareness of this issue.
May I express my sincere gratitude to all the institutions and organisations, foreign partners as well as the highly esteemed foreign experts for their consistent efforts in finding solutions to this problem on an international scale.
I am confident that people both in Lithuania and other countries are not sufficiently aware of alcohol spectrum disorders, harm of alcohol during pregnancy and possible consequences for the child to be born.
Increasingly more cases of childrens developmental disorders are currently being identified while the number of children requiring adapted school curriculum is also growing.
This is a painful problem of both social and economic character. Targeted knowledge dissemination and clear aspects of public opinion formation are therefore required to tackle it. It is often believed that consumption of moderate quantities of alcohol poses no harm.
Larisa Dmitrijeva, Member of the Labour Party Political Group, has registered an amendment to the Law on Alcohol Control, which foresees regulation of alcohol labelling. Similar legal requirements have already been adopted in France, which has become the first country labelling all alcoholic beverages sold on its territory.
I am glad to note that Lithuania is the second country in the EU seeking to introduce legislation providing that all alcohol sold in the Republic of Lithuania shall be labelled with graphic signs warning about harm of alcohol for pregnant women.
The results of the survey ordered by the European Commission in 2010 suggests that 79 per cent of the EU population, Lithuanian residents included, back the idea of having warning signs on the adverts of alcoholic beverages concerning the harm of alcohol for pregnant women and drivers.
I am convinced that we should make every effort to ensure that our society, primarily younger generation, are as widely informed as possible about the damaging effects of alcohol drinking.
Let me wish you smooth and constructive work today.
