Tara Kearsey
Northern News Services

Fort Simpson ( Jun 05/00) - A Fort Simpson woman will help a national advisory committee bring new attention to Fetal Alcohol Syndrome and Fetal Alcohol Effects.

Ethel Lamothe, manager of community wellness at Deh Cho Health and Social Services, was chosen as one of the 12 committee members during the second Annual Prairie-Northern FAS/FAE conference.

The conference was held recently at the University of Manitoba.

Lamothe and the other committee members will report to the federal government on their work to bring issues relating to FAS/FAE to the forefront.

"She will hopefully bring the Northern perspective on the issue to that advisory panel," said Health and Social Services Minister Jane Groenewegen, who also attended the conference.

Lamothe has dedicated 20 years of her life to working with the Dene nation, promoting healthy living, nutrition and educating about the effects of drugs and alcohol on a person's life.

"I feel honoured to be on a committee like this one because there's so much relevance to the North.

"I know the communities, the people, the work that's being done and the work that needs to be done and I really, truly want to try to get more people to understand that it's 100 per cent preventable," said Lamothe.

Groenewegen said she hopes this initiative will bring everyone together.

"It's just a collaboration to bring awareness and address the issues, and hopefully prevent this condition from occurring. It's an extremely sad condition in the fact that it affects so many people and it really impacts their lives."