A three-year project to reduce infant mortality launches Wednesday in Detroit, where more babies die before their first birthday than in any of the nation’s largest cities.
The W.K.Kellogg Foundation provided funding for Detroit to join a national initiative, called CityMatCH, which helps health leaders in various communities organize to improve infant health. The University of Nebraska-based initiative is already facilitating infant mortality reduction efforts in Dayton, Ohio, San Francisco, Baltimore and other large cities.
Kellogg awarded a three-year, $375,000 grant to Detroit’s Institute for Population Health to work with CityMatCH to develop an infant mortality reduction project in the city. The private non-profit Institute was created a year ago to provide health services to city residents.
The initiative kicks off Wednesday with a public event from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Charles H. Wright African American Museum, 315 East Warren Ave., in Detroit. Public health officials and other community leaders will meet for a series of workshops and brainstorming sessions on Thursday and Friday.
“(CityMatCH) gives us an opportunity to come together and think in new ways about the persistent and unacceptable problem of a disproportionate number of our babies dying before their first birthdays,” said Leseliey Welch, community innovations manager for the Institute for Population Health.
A Detroit News study published in January found that Detroit is the most dangerous place in America to be a child. Detroit has a higher death rate for children 18 or younger than any city its size or larger in the U.S. The greatest number of deaths occur before the child’s first birthday, most due to preterm birth. Homicide is the second greatest cause of child deaths in the city.
Patrick Simpson, program officer for maternal and child health with the Kellogg Foundation, said Detroit’s infant mortality problem is “very complex.”
“While (Detroit) has a lot of programs that are focused on infant mortality, they are more neighborhood focused, rather than focusing on systemic things that need to be changed,” Simpson said. “There are not enough (health care) providers, women are not getting enrolled in prenatal care soon enough.
“(With CityMatCH) they’ll be looking at what the underlying causes are that are driving Detroit’s infant mortality rates.”
The Institute for Population Health will collaborate with Detroit’s Department of Health and Wellness Promotion and the Detroit Regional Infant Mortality Reduction Task Force.
“The community problem of our high infant mortality rate is an area of intense focus right now in city government and with our local health system partners,” said Vernice Anthony, director of Health and Wellness Promotion for the city. “This new initiative with CityMatCH will be an important part of a larger, comprehensive strategy being developed to significantly increase the number of babies who survive and flourish beyond their first birthday.”
Following the Detroit News report, Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan announced he would soon roll out a campaign to combat infant mortality in the city. Duggan planned to announce his effort in March, but the city is still working to finalize the details, according to John Roach, the mayor’s spokesman.
Dr. Kimberlydawn Wisdom, vice president of community health, education and wellness for Henry Ford Health System and chair of the Detroit Regional Infant Mortality Task Force, said she’s been working closely with Duggan to develop the city’s plan.
“We’re trying to align things now so that I expect in the next couple of weeks that the mayor will be announcing something, We’re just getting everything aligned so that plan will reflect what we’re doing across the region,” Wisdom said.
“It’s very promising and hopeful,” Wisdom added. “This is the first time I’ve seen the mayor’s office aligned, the health systems are aligning, we’re all coming together.”
From The Detroit News: http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20140507/METRO01/305070041#ixzz313jai78v
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