Florida To Reduce Infant Mortality Rates Among Minorities

Infant Mortality Rates Among Minorities

Florida Gov. Charlie Crist (R) on Monday signed a bill into law thatwill fund research examining the cause of high infant mortality ratesamong minorities, the Fort Meyers News-Pressreports. According to a legislative staff analysis, Florida's infantmortality rate in 2005 was 12.5 deaths per 1,000 live births amongminorities, compared with 5.3 deaths per 1,000 live births among whites(Booth Reed, Fort Meyers News-Press, 7/3).

Thebill, sponsored by Democratic lawmakers Rep. Betty Reed and Sen.Arthenia Joyner, provides a one-time, $1 million grant to be used byresearchers to find the cause of the disparity (Mishkin, St. Petersburg Times, 7/3). The grant also will go toward two or more Healthy Start coalitions in areas with a black infant mortality rate nearly double that of whites, according to the News-Press (Fort Meyers News-Press, 7/3). The Florida Department of Health will administer the programs and allocate the funds.

RochelleBarberio, a registered nurse with Healthy Start in Hillsborough County,said that researchers will have to address health issues -- such asobesity, hypertension, inadequate prenatal care, and environmental andpersonal stress -- that contribute to pre-term labor. Pre-term labor isone of the leading causes of infant death, Estrellita Berry, projectdirector of Healthy Start in Hillsborough, said.

Reed said, "With the signing of that bill today, ... I hope I started the process of really taking charge of the disparity" (St. Petersburg Times, 7/3).

Reprinted with permission from kaisernetwork.org. You can view theentire Kaiser WeeklyHealth Disparities Report,search the archives, and sign up for email delivery at kaisernetwork.org/email. The Kaiser Weekly Health Disparities Report is published for kaisernetwork.org, afree service of The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation.