Photo credit: Courtesy of NOFAS
“It was good to welcome back NOFAS this year at our Embassy in support of such an important cause,” said The Ambassador of Italy Claudio Bisogniero at the 25th Anniversary Gala of NOFAS to celebrate International FASD Awareness Day and Smart Moms, Healthy Babies.
“Italy is strongly committed to raising awareness of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder. In October, the Third European Conference on FASD will be held in Rome. And naturally – as in all of today’s sensitive and significant issues – Italy and the US are allies in this field too, thanks to the Memorandum of Understanding between the Italian Ministry of Health and the US Health and Human Services Department, which focuses on tackling alcohol – or indeed any kind of abuse, and thanks also to a previous 2011 agreement in place between the Anti-drug Department of the Italian Prime Minister’s Office and the US National Institute on Drug Abuse.”
Kate Boyce (NOFAS Board Chair), Amb. Claudio Bisogniero and Laura Denise Bisogniero
NOFAS raises national and international awareness about recommendations and resources for a healthy pregnancy. ‘DC based, NOFAS is the only national non-profit ‘dedicated to addressing FASD, the leading preventable cause of developmental disabilities and birth defects affecting 40,000 newborns each year in the United States alone.’
Ka Wade, Kate Boyce, Sheila Rabaut, Artin Afsharjavan, Wyly Wade and Tom Rabaut
The Honorable Tom Daschle, Anne Smith, Dr. William Kennedy Smith, and Kathy Mitchell (NOFAS Vice President)
Ambassadors and Congressional Hosts included The Honorable Tom Harkin and Lisa Murkowski, longtime Congressional champions for the awareness and prevention of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD), His Excellency the Ambassador of Canada Gary Albert Doer, and Terry Lierman, NOFAS Co-Founder. corporate leaders and other public and private sector guests gathered for a reception, silent auction, live auction and dinner.
