Our Goals
The mission of the North Carolina Folic Acid Council (NCFAC) is to ensure and improve the health of women and their children by promoting the benefits and consumption of folic acid. To accomplish this, we seek to achieve the following objectives:
- Reduce the number of pregnancies affected by neural tube defects in North Carolina by increasing the daily consumption of multivitamins with folic acid
- Encourage women of childbearing age to take multivitamins with the recommended daily amount of folic acid every day, making the habit a community norm
- Persuade women’s health care providers to educate their patients on the importance of taking multivitamins with adequate amounts of folic acid each day
- Coordinate our efforts with the North Carolina Birth Defects Registry and evaluate them on a regular basis
- Advocate for favorable health policies and adequate campaign resources
Our Partners
Partnerships between various agencies and individuals are vital to the NCFAC’s success. Working together, we can achieve our goals while serving as part of a larger public health movement promoting healthy behaviors for women throughout their lives.
The ongoing success of our efforts is due in no small part to the active involvement and continuing collaboration of partners such as:
- March of Dimes
- North Carolina Healthy Start Foundation
- North Carolina Birth Defects Monitoring Program
- Fullerton Genetics Center at Mission Hospital
- Division of Public Health, North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services
- U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
- Odum Institute for Research in Social Science at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
- UNC Center for Maternal and Infant Health
- Crittenden Advertising
- North Carolina State Center for Health Statistics
- National Council on Folic Acid
- National Birth Defects Prevention Network
- Department of Nursing at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro
Our Executive Committee
We have a diverse, dedicated and active Executive Committee that meets quarterly to direct the work and assess the effectiveness of our ongoing efforts on behalf of the women and children of North Carolina.
Chair
Maggie Tomei – Crittenden Advertising
Vice-chair
Open
Executive Committee
Luz Helena Aguilar-Saavedra– Latino outreach representative
Anna Bess Brown, MPH – March of Dimes Foundation
North Carolina Chapter
Lucy Calhoun, RN – Rutherfordton Hospital
Jerry Hankerson, Sr. – Women’s Health Branch
NC Division of Public Health
Katherine Harmsen, MA – North Carolina Birth Defects Monitoring Program
Jeannine M. Herrick, MPH – At-large representative
Joe Holliday, MD, MPH – Women’s Health Branch
NC Division of Public Health
Karla Kreblein, MA – North Carolina Healthy Start Foundation
Heidi Krowchuk, PhD, RN, FAAN – University of North Carolina at Greensboro
Kim Little, RN, MSN – Cabarrus College of Health Sciences
Elizabeth L. Lyon, MS – Genetics and Newborn Screening
NC Division of Public Health
Judy Major, MPH – Fullerton Genetics Center at Mission Hospitals
Glenda S. Pakso – Consumer/student representative
Lisa Richardson, MS, RD, LDN – Nutrition Services Branch
NC Division of Public Health
Jennifer Stock, BS - N.C. Birth Defects Monitoring Program
State Center for Health Statistics
Sarah Verbiest, MPH, MSW – UNC Center for Maternal and Infant Health
This web site is designed for informational use only; it is not designed to give advice or cure or treat any medical condition you may have. If you have any questions about your health, please contact your health care provider. If you need immediate medical attention, please call 911.
