• ALARMED BY Dr. Robbins forecast we crank-up our DeLorean �me machine to hurry Back To The Future to the year 1991 only to have arrived too late. :... Nearly 10 years of continuous-as­ :sault on public health policy by : Presidents Reagan and Bush, we • now find the wide spread epidemics : of childhood diseases such and : mumps, influenza and measles-dts­ : eases once thought to be conquered. Just recently, the National Vac­ : cine Advisory Committee of the : Department of Health and Human :. Service reporting on the current 4 me le epidemic in the Journal of tbe • American Medical Association : Slated: The principle cause has been : failure to administer vaccines to vul­ : nerable, preschool children on • schedule an(1' cited missed oppor- · ....,. • tunities for adrrurustenng vaccine as : one of everal causes for these , failure." : As few 63% of � year-old - children have never been inoculated : in some Inner city populations. • YOU'RE WITHIN THE NORMS Rape, assaul ts on children and other related violent crimes have hown a dramatic increase over the last 10 years, no longer confined to the inner cities, with one very recent FBI study showing predominately Caucasian communities such as Grand Rapids and Livonia, Michigan leading the nation in epidemic proportions of rape crime on women. CA CERS AND Cardiovas­ cular Diseases such as Stroke, Coronary Artery, Kidney, Diabetes exact an enormous toll on the Black male population, wi th the overall life expectancy of Black males having declined by six years during the Reagan/Bush era. While AIDS has not been all that kind to the African American females, a recently released CDC study showed overall female deaths from mv were ome 12,000. in the year 1990 "and nearly hair' or 6,000 were African American females, and acce s to q uali ty healthcare for Blacks in America remains unequal Inspire of higher education, im­ proved employment or economic status. Over the next few months I will attempt to address solutions in turn­ ing around this pitiful crisis in Healthcare for our community. For Now, you're within the norms. REFUGEES continued from P g. 1 refugees to leave. "We are going to use the psychological pressure and the need for food to encourage Uberians to move," tbe official said, on condi-, lion of anonymity. Collier said food rations already h8d been cut, including a reduction by balf in the daily rice ration of • about one pound. Similar cuts are : expected for tho�an�s of other • Uberian refugee 10 Sierra Leone, '; Guinea and Ivory Coast. .� Food hipment are being . diverted to Liberia's Nimb and Bomi counties. behind th rebel lines, for di tribution by private :: aFnd operating there, the, food ,official id. 'If people know there is more food at home, theY'll want to go home," he ide The policy appears to be work­ ing. Karen Konig Abiizayd, a U.N. refugee official, said nearly half tbe 125,000 refugees in Sierra Leone bad gone to tbeir homes behind tbe rebel lines of Charl Taylor. Hi fighters overran most of liberia and invaded Sierra Leone in March. Another 4,000 have returned to Monrovia, the capital. Abuzayd cknowledged it i too soon for many to return, because of lingering tribal animositi from a civil war that killed 10,000 people . S said members of the Krahn tribe, to which President Samuel Doe belonged, may be the last 0 go bome. End Adv for Sunday July Z1 die AI NEW YORK - Re ponding to in­ creasing concern about the high, ri � facing older people caught in the nation' emergency medical care crisi , Medic Alert Foundation la�d a national health-education campaign urging older Americans to "think again" about the of emer­ gency medical identification. "111e hospital emergency depart­ ment is a 'primary point of entry' to the health care y tern for millions of older people, the large t users of emergency ervices n tionwide," said Stcphan O. Lynn, M.D., director of the department of emergency medicine at' St. L ' -Roosevelt llospital Center in New York. "And the elderly are the most at risk in today's crowded emergency departments because they frequently have very complex medical histories and are the least able to communi­ cate," Dr. Lynn added. "They often don't know - or can't recall be­ cause of stress - the names of therr medications, much le s give a thorough medical history." "Older people usually don't real- , ize that their chronic medical condi­ tions and the medications they take present a very real risk in medical emergencies," Lynn noted. "They should think again and prepare them­ selves for emergency situations." LYNN, SAID THAT increased use of emergency medical identifica­ tion among older people i an effec- ely to stroke, dt , and some fonns of cancer. But we can improve the cx:Jds, even if those {XObIems run in our tam 185, by eating less fat and exerrisilJ{J more. " on African-Ameri "Tod y, the he lth African-Ameri i incri . ," Donna Rice, pre ident 0 "But e n't j t land till. must mobilize to e ure improved health for future generatio . " According to Mrs. Rice, "The first tep i to empower oursel with inform tion - on healthy eating, exercise, cigaret mokin and alcohol and dru . 1ben e m t continually hare this informa- to ccordin to poster,' 0 void frying which at least doubl � fat in foods. Fried chic en with french fri , for example, five time tbc t of b d chicken with baked potato and JDaIgarine. "Eating n " poin out that b d, broiled, and grilled foods are just tasty. The Sh ri Belafonte po ter demonstrate th t be lthy .. eau d n't have to mean tnm foods. ithin our tradition, grandmother ha pointed the direction to numerous holesome foods Ii e cie ri k o el� rly In tive tool to protect the elderly by providing fast and accurate medical information that em rgency person­ nel need. Medical Alert, a nonprofit or­ ganization that provides fast and c­ curate medical inform tion to emer­ gency personnel through 24-hour communicatio ervice and com­ puterized patients files, will focus attention on the need for older Americans to wear emergency medi­ cal 10 through a campaign of public ervice advertisements and outreach to senior citizens' organizations, ho pital ,and caregivers. Each targeted medical condition - hypertension, heart disease, diabetes, and the use of multiple medications - is treated in a special brochure that gives older people and their families ideas for coping with emergency medical ituation. Copies may be obtained free-of­ charge from Medic Alert, Turlock, Calif., 95380, or by calling l-BOO- 432-5378 (1-800- ID-ALER1). "The elderl y often have several simullaneou illnesses, take numerous medications, visit multi­ ple phy lcians and, in general, are at a disadvantage in hectic emergency rooms," according to Dr. Leslie S. Libow, professor of ieriatrics and . adult development at Mount Sinai Medical Center. Physicians warn that people with chronic conditions frequently take medications that make .... them appear RACE continued from Pag 1 "I DON'T THINK anyone hould not support him because he i a conservative Black, " . said Reginald Barner, 28, of Greenville, S.C. "If we go the liberal route all the time, put all of our eggs in one basket and don't ever get anything out of it, we're still lost." "Knowing what hi PRISON continued from Page 1 Viator said there was no violence associated with the protest. "It hap­ pened very quickly, nd they (the inmates) were brought back inside. The guards returned the striking prisoners to the dormitorie , and one-by-one they were removed to the punishment cells," he said. ALL THE ROTESTING in­ mat were to appear before prison dildplinary committee on Wednes­ day. If found guilty, they could be placed in the prison's crew that refused to ork, allegedly in ym- patny .... " _ Viator suggested that the 95 de­ gree heat may have been responsible for the decision by the field workers. The Angola prison i a huge ptan­ tation-like facility located on the Missi ippi River, about 30 miles north of Baton Rouge. New Bu ine es Orientation sessions for people interested in ning a new busin are offered from 10 a.m. to 12 noon . every Thursday at Lake Michigan College's Small B i� Develop­ ment Center, 2755 E. Napier Avenue, Benton Harbor. community. " Co' 0 all po te '1 bJe for 3. 5 (p r) or 9.95 (laminated) from: CSPI-Eatin n po r, 1 Con- necticut Ave. 300, bington, D.C. 2 me AUXIUARY TO the tional eclical . tion i non­ profit volunteer organization bieb promo d better health fo the African-American community and all America for over 50 years. Through i networ of 64 chapte cro the country; MA h developed and implemented nation­ al health projec d igned 0 edu­ cate the public regarding m [or health . The Center for Science in the Public Interest is non-profit health­ advocacy group nd longtime crusader for healthier die . CSPI 2SO,OOO membeR nationwide and' celebrating its 20th anniver­ sary in 1991. ack to the tutur. : When ketchup was a vegetable? (part II) . Dr. Anthony Robbins reported in 1983 tbat the Reagan Administration �tedly made a determi�d effort to reverse the progress of t� '60 and . '90 pollcl of Republican pres ... den in areas such toxic agent QOnuol, occupational safety, health, .:eident prevention and injury con- I trot. Dr. Robbi warned in 1983 of the unnece lary cost Americans would have to pay in their live be­ cause of Reagans' half-hearted rapo 10 "a r fFr pl!)\)1e than Legionnai.Jes. Disc , does not bode well for infectious disease con­ trol." Robbins reported that, "Hospital Infection Control, which could save pver 1 billion dollars aMually was targeted for elimination in President Reagan's Budget and the national epidemiC of Genital Herpes received more attention from the media than tmy publiC bealth problem last year." According to the Center of Dis­ ease Control, the Re gan Ad­ ministration ha not commited adequate resource to the problems of this sexuall y transmitted disease." . . rg ncie , gency physician to know preciSCJ what, medications the patient i taking." , Medic Alert Foundation Intema tional, a non-profit organization wi 22 affiliates worldwide, provide emergency medical information to medical profes ionals via a custord ,. engraved emblem and a 24-hour telephone hotline. Medic Alert maintain com­ puterized information on members' primary medical conditions, medica. lions, physician and family contacts: Members wear 8 universally recog­ nized emblem on a bracelet or nee chain that lists their primary medic:,) conditions, personal i