Even though alcohol is the substance most abused in Malta, there are almost no instances of birth defects related to excessive drinking, according to Sedqa services manager Manuel Mangani.

Speaking during a seminar on caring for unborn children last week, Mr Mangani said that from experience and information received from the paediatric unit at Mater Dei Hospital, the incidence of foetal alcohol syndrome was close to none.

“In our experience, even women with an alcohol problem stop drinking when they get pregnant, even though they might resume their habit soon after the birth,” Mr Mangani said, specifying, however, that this did not mean there was not an alcohol problem on the island.

In fact, Sedqa recently called for more enforcement on alcohol, including random breathalyser tests, in the light of UK research which showed that on the whole, alcohol caused more harm to society than other drugs.

The seminar focused on the Swedish experience in treating women who abused alcohol and drugs while pregnant.

An official at the Swedish National Institute for Public Health, Eva-Karin Enwall, said alcohol use, while being widespread in Sweden and a bit less so in Malta, was not treated seriously enough, and health professionals more often than not only treated symptoms of excessive or inappropriate alcohol use, and not the problem itself.

Ms Enwall pointed to studies which suggested that even with moderate drinking, the risk of cancer increased by 20 per cent, and cardiovascular diseases and liver cirrhosis were also linked to high alcohol consumption.

Meanwhile, Tony Mifsud, coordinator of the Malta Unborn Child Movement, said his organisation was mounting pressure on the government to consider the effects of climate change on unborn children.

Pointing to a 2008 Daily Mail article, as well as a US report which said babies were being born “pre-polluted”, Mr Mifsud said more had to be done to prevent harmful chemicals as this might be affecting them as well.

Speaking at the seminar, parliamentary assistant Peter Micallef said the government was committed to “respect and care towards human life from its conception”, as mentioned in the recently launched sexual health policy.