HHS Secretary Tommy G. Thompson announced last night during a visit to Navajo Country $4.25 million to support a new initiative to reduce racial and ethnic disparities in infant mortality.
Approximately $2 million will be awarded to seven Tribal Epidemiology Centers and American Indian and Alaska Native service areas to support Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) reduction interventions. The Indian Health Service areas are: Aberdeen, Billings and Navajo.
In addition, approximately $2.25 million have been awarded to the four states experiencing the highest infant death rates for African Americans. These states, Illinois, Michigan, Mississippi and South Carolina will implement research-based best practices into their services for mothers and infants. This initiative is part of the Secretary's overall Closing the Health Gap campaign to reduce health disparities among minority communities.
"For too long low birth weight and SIDS have plagued African American and American Indian and Alaska Native communities," Secretary Thompson said. "Through our Closing the Health Gap on Infant Mortality initiative, we will strengthen and expand on our efforts toward eliminating disparities so that low birth weight and SIDS can become a thing of the past."
While HHS will continue with its current high level of effort to reduce infant mortality across all racial and ethnic groups, the Closing the Health Gap on Infant Mortality initiative is intended to accelerate the rate of change among African American and American Indian and Alaska Native populations due to their significant disparities.
The infant mortality rate for white infants in 2001 was 5.7 deaths per 1,000 live births. African American babies endure the greatest disparity and suffer at a rate of twice that of white infants with 13.7 deaths per 1,000 live births. The rate among American Indian and Alaska Native babies was 9.1 deaths per 1,000 live births, also almost twice that of whites. African American infants have the highest infant mortality rates from low birth weight, approximately four times that of infants born to white mothers.
"While we have noted successes in certain populations though our Back to Sleep Campaign, we know that more needs to be done to reach specific populations in this country," Secretary Thompson said. "This campaign will be adapted to do that."