“This pilot project has shown that we can work together to support women in making informed choices by providing access to the tools they need,” Minister of Health and Social Services Mike Nixon said. “The Government of Yukon is pleased to continue to support this worthwhile project.”

In March 2015, Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Society Yukon joined the University of Alaska’s two-year pilot project, which included the installation of pregnancy test dispensers and posters at key points in Whitehorse. The goal of the study was to assess the best method to increase awareness of the effects of alcohol during pregnancy on the unborn fetus.

While we won’t have the results of the University of Alaska study before early 2017, we are very encouraged by the uptake of the pregnancy tests,” Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Society Yukon executive director Wenda Bradley said. “It’s a simple idea that we hope will have a big impact on the public’s awareness of the effect of alcohol on a developing fetus and thus reduce the number of people affected by fetal alcohol spectrum disorder in the future.”