[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 43 (Thursday, March 18, 1999)]
[House]
[Pages H1456-H1457]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




        REDUCING THE NUMBER OF INFANT DEATHS IN ONONDAGA COUNTY

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from New York (Mr. Walsh) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. WALSH. Mr. Speaker, the topic that I would like to discuss 
tonight is an issue of great importance in my home community of 
Onondaga County in which the city of Syracuse resides and I have 
represented now for 10 years in the Congress. When I first came to 
Washington back in 1988, we had the unfortunate distinction of having 
one of the highest infant mortality rates in the country. In 1987, 87 
newborns died before they reached their first birthday. Over the 1987 
to 1989 period, an average of 68 infants in the county, or 10 out of 
every thousand died, again before they reached their first birthday.
  These are horrifying statistics, and what makes it even worse, Mr. 
Speaker, is that the proportion of these deaths fell most heavily upon 
the minority community.
  Last year we through now 10 years of concerted work and effort and 
coordination and caring, we have some excellent news to report. While 
even one death is unacceptable, we have succeeded in reducing our 
infant mortality rate in Onondaga County by over 50 percent. This 
remarkable change did not happen without a concerted effort. A number 
of devoted people and organizations contributed. I have always felt 
that the best government will sponsor a partnership between local, 
state and Federal governments, and special initiatives undertaken by 
local communities and the private sector, and in central New York we 
proved this to be the case. The efforts which have been successful in 
reducing the number of infant deaths in Onondaga County began in the 
early 1990's.
  As a member of the Select Committee on Children, Youth and Families, 
I encouraged and was successful in bringing a former colleague of mine 
from New York, Mack McHugh, and others to hold a field hearing for that 
committee in Syracuse back in 1990. We had witness testimony from 
public health officials, physicians, nurses and parents about 
strategies for insuring healthy babies in upstate New York. As a result 
of these hearings, a number of projects were undertaken in the county 
with the goal of reducing infant death and increasing birth weight at 
the time of birth.
  Since that time, a number of these projects have proved to be very 
effective in dealing with infant mortality. Dr. Jim Miller and his 
successors, including Dr. Lloyd Novick, Commissioner of Health in 
Onondaga County, should be credited for the innovative efforts to 
address this issue by creating initiatives to reduce the instance of 
infant mortality and low birth weight babies. One of these programs is 
called Healthy Start. It works to reduce both infant mortality and 
adolescent pregnancy. Adolescent pregnancy and infant mortality are 
interrelated, births to young women who are not physically or 
psychologically prepared to give birth or to adequately raise the 
child. Adolescents often cannot provide the care necessary to ensure 
the health of infants and often get into the system too late. Healthy 
Start realizes that by addressing the issue of teen pregnancy the 
instance of infant mortality can be dramatically reduced. Low birth 
weight, as we know, is a key factor in the health of newborns, and all 
efforts were targeted toward healthy pregnancies and early 
intervention.

  Healthy Start is dependent on the work of many partners in the local 
community: hospital staff, university health professionals, case 
workers, local schools, task forces. All can provide health education 
and care to adolescents and their parents and must include State, 
county and Federal health agencies and officials.
  Doctor Sandy Lane is the Syracuse Healthy Start project director. She 
and her staff are to be commended for the committed efforts that they 
have made. She has been very modest about her program's ability to 
create the success. She credits involvement of local groups, partner 
agencies and the help of the Health Department programs and strongly 
praises the important Federal program, WIC, Women, Infant, Children, 
the feeding program to provide nutrition for both women and those 
children.
  Syracuse Healthy Start funding is a combination of Federal, State and 
local funding. Over 4 and a half million dollars of Federal money have 
come in to the program through the Department of Health and Human 
Services, the Health Resources and Service Administration. Healthy 
Start also looks to Blue Cross and Blue Shield and to New York State 
Department of Health

[[Page H1457]]

to obtain supplemental funds. The program has been largely successful 
because of these efforts.
  Another such program is the Adolescent Risk Reduction Initiative. 
This seeks to address the issues of adolescent pregnancy and sexually 
transmitted diseases. It seeks to promote responsibility in sexual 
reproductive decision-making and parenting. The presumption is that 
responsible parents are better able to provide for the health of their 
children. Ways in which adolescent risk reduction initiative works 
provides for pure leadership, training youths to be responsible for 
themselves and to teach their peers to be responsible. Education on 
health issues. Parent workshops to get the parents involved.
  Mr. Speaker, having not concluded my remarks, I ask that the 
remainder be included in the Record, and I end by saying that any 
community in America that is struggling with this terrible condition 
should have hope. You can do it, too. Healthy babies are worth the 
effort. It just requires commitment, coordination and a lot of caring.

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