i fant death rate
reaches staggering levels
4f) out of 1 ()(J()
child d' In fl t
HIOHI..AND PK - Highland
Park' infant mortality rate in
1 wa ering 0.5
per 1000 children born. Ac­
cording to W yne County
Dep rtm nt of Public He' Ith
'_-';'�_.;<"'-�."""1. Dir ctor Cynthia T It I
one of the highc tin thc uate.
The rate i almo t twice
that of Detroit' 1988 rate of
20. per 1000. but Taueg aid
there are poe ets in Detroit
with a count as high a High-
1 nd Park' .
Infant mortality r te
Cigur . for 1989 are not yet
vailable.
T u e gsa i d part 0 r (h e
problem c n be attributed to
demographics. She indicated
the city has a large propor­
tion of poor people who re
con tanlly on the move, nd
are ignorant of the �rvjce
available to them. . ..
SHE SAID THE city h s
been very cooperative with
her office. donaung a build­
ing fo� a county clinic at
12951 Woodward. and last
year bosting a public foru_m
on infant mortality.
Highland Park' Director
of Public Relation' Phillip
Heath. aid the City i. aware
of the infant mortality issue.
nc:J has formed an alliance
jib tbe count l co it
The city doe not hav its
own health department.
The county . hare the
building ith Mercy Family
Care. Mercy Family Care
provide pre-natal care and
medical erviccs with a staCf
of 15 orker.
The county provide' up-
plemental food program for
pregnant women (WIC). and
Maternal Support Service •
for low -I ncome pregnant
women, which provide them
with information on proper
nutrition, and how to care for
their unborn child.
The county ha a taff of
eight health 'departme nt
worker.
BOTH OPERATIO S
provide joint immunization
and medicaid creening
program.
County clinic upervisor
Sara John on said the clinic
does not handle women with
drug pr ob lc ms , hut refer
them to Hutzel Ho. pi tat.
��j,OJlIUO'� kn led tnerlill'.-6,,--""1
drug problem i contributing
to infant mortality rate in
Highland Park.
Taeug cmpha iz e d the
problem .ha to be put on a
per onal level. She said
when individuals ee preg­
nant women, they hould in­
form them of the e rvice
available to them.
For more information on
pre-natal he lth c re call
867-1506.
I I