From the assistant secretary for health

Article Abstract:

Infant mortality has decreased by nearly 50 percent since 1970 when there were 20 infant deaths for each 1,000 live births. However, in the United States, approximately 39,000 babies will die during their first year of life. This places our infants at greater risk of death than the infants of 20 other industrialized nations and Hong Kong. Even more alarming are the facts that the rate of decline of infant mortality has effectively stopped in this country, and the statistics for minorities are considerably worse than for white babies. The infant mortality rate is 15.7 for nonwhites versus 8.9 for whites. The most important factor which is statistically associated with infant mortality is low birth weight. During 1987 the rate of low birth weights increased to the highest level since 1979. For all births 6.9 percent of babies had low birth weights; 12.7 percent of babies born to black mothers and 5.7 percent of those born to white mothers had low birth weights. At the core of this problem may be the fact that mothers belonging to minority groups do not receive early medical care during pregnancy, and that they may not be able to afford extremely expensive neonatal intensive care. The current administration has made this problem a major priority that will result in restructuring and reorganizing the methods of delivering medical services to pregnant women and children. Funding for targeted research and special programs will also be made available in areas where infant mortality is unusually high. A new interdepartmental White House Task Force on Infant Mortality has been formed to provide momentum and ensure commitment to solving this problem.

Laws, regulations and rules, Patient outcomes, Mortality, Prevention, Complications and side effects, Pregnant women, Birth weight, Low, Low birth weight, Infants, Infant mortality, Preventive medicine, Pregnancy, Complications of, Pregnancy complications, Maternal health services, Medicine, Preventive

---

Health progress in the United States: results of the 1990 objectives for the nation

Article Abstract:

In 1980, the Department of Health and Human Services released a report detailing 226 health objectives to be met by the year 1990, and the department has now assessed the nation's achievement of the objectives. One goal was to reduce the mortality rate among different age groups, and except for certain groups, this objective has been met. Preventive services objectives include control of blood pressure, family planning and immunization. Health protection objectives include preventing accidents and injuries, controlling exposure to toxic chemicals and fluoridating water to reduce tooth decay. Health promotion objectives focus on the relation between health and smoking, alcohol and drug use, nutrition, physical activity and stress. Overall, Americans have met 32% of the 226 objectives and made some progress on 30%. The greatest progress was made on objectives for blood pressure management and smoking cessation.

Reports, Public health

---

A national agenda for women's health

Article Abstract:

Many medical research studies do not include women and the Public Health Service is attempting to change this by implementing its Action Plan for Women's Health. The plan, which will be monitored by the newly created Office on Women's Health, will include 38 goals related to prevention, treatment, research, education and policy. The new Office of Research on Women's Health at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) will promote the inclusion of women in clinical research. The appointments of Bernadine Healy as the head of the NIH and Antonio Novello as the Surgeon General - the first time these posts have ever been filled by women - are a promising development.

Women, Women's health

Similar abstracts:

• Abstracts: Transplantation of CD34 human cells into mice with severe combined immunodeficiency results in functional T cells 4 weeks after transplantation
• Abstracts: Is there a doctor in the house? An analysis of the practice of physicians' treating their own families. Divorce among physicians: comparisons with other occupational groups
• Abstracts: Association of mitral valve prolapse and systemic abnormalities of connective tissue: a phenotypic continuum. The diagnostic evaluation and multidisciplinary management of neurofibromatosis 1 and neurofibromatosis 2
• Abstracts: The medical outcomes study: an application of methods for monitoring the results of medical care. How many physicians is enough?
• Abstracts: Effect of low-dose aspirin on fetal and maternal generation of thromboxane by platelets in women at risk for pregnancy-induced hypertension

This website is not affiliated with document authors or copyright owners. This page is provided for informational purposes only. Unintentional errors are possible.