I guess there are a couple of issues there. The first is the suggestion that there's been no progress. In fact there has been progress here. Is it as much as any of us or all of us would have hoped? No. I agree with that. Is there more to be done? Absolutely.
But there's been significant progress in terms of public awareness. There's been significant progress in terms of professional awareness and diagnostic guidelines, etc.
And in terms of the federal role vis-à-vis that of the provinces and territories, that's something for governments to discuss and debate. But within the authorities that we have, we've made significant progress to this point.
On the issue of messaging, the messaging is a complex one, as you can understand, whether it's talking about alcohol and pregnancy or the use of medications during pregnancy or the issue as it relates to other health things and the trade-offs between decisions that people make.
The risk clearly is not uniform throughout the pregnancy. There is risk before women know they are pregnant. That is why the guidance, the public health advice, is different from the common message that all groups are willing to speak to in advertising, etc. What public health speaks to in pre-conception as well as prenatal discussions is that if you think...and this is a general message. I think we can continue to refine what the public messaging is so there is an understanding among the public about the nuance between the issue of dose of alcohol, location of alcohol, and, in this case, pre-conception versus prenatal care and the importance in pre-conception of.... In other words, anybody who has the potential to be pregnant or is thinking about being pregnant should be thinking in the same way as if they are pregnant, not just about alcohol but about the use of over-the-counter medications and other things that may influence the development of that fetus. That is what I was trained in as a physician. That is what public health speaks to. But the message is a bit longer than what you can put on a brochure.