Crist signs infant mortality bill

Gov. Crist greets Evangeline R. Best, of Tampa, center, as Roland Brookins, center left, and Nellie Bythwood, right, look on after Crist signed the Infant Motality Bill into law. [Ken Helle | Times]

TAMPA -- Governor Charlie Crist stopped by an East Tampa library this morning to sign an act allocating $1-million dollars to study why black infants die at higher rates than white infants.

The state’s Department of Health will administer the program and allocate the grant money to Healthy Start coalitions in counties with particularly high black infant morality rates. The grant recipients will examine medical and social causes of infant death and will help design future programs to improve infant survival rates, said Estrellita Berry, project director for central Hillsborough Healthy Start Project.

In Hillsborough, Berry said, black infants die 4.4 times as often as white infants. Three of her friends lost their infants young — one because of diabetes, one from high blood pressure, and one for reasons still unknown.

“We’re off the mark,” she said.

The bill, HB 1269, was sponsored in the House by freshman Rep. Betty Reed (D-59) and in the Senate by Sen. Arthenia Joyner (D-18).

--Sarah Mishkin, Times staff writer

Comments

[Holly]

Now this problem is "rocket science" discovery work! Don't know? I bet I know...

[Mo]

Holly, I'm hoping you can enlighten me. Diabetes, High Blood Pressure. I am certainly not a rocket scientist so please, share.

[meeeee]

you have to be kidding me. what a waste of taxpayers dollars. go home crist

[Jlentz]

The cause may be apparent, but for people to take notice, and consequently support programs that help people, studies need to be conducted and tax dollars need to be spent (as efficiently as possible).

[Kelly]

Here's the answer: Don't smoke crack. One Million dollars, please.

[Me]

Let's see... crack, heroin, meth? Perhaps the fact that a black adult is likely to die 4.4 times as often as a white adult? It's lifestyle folks. We don't need to spend another $1 million to figure it out. We're already paying their rent!

Excuse me but I think you all are really wrong!white people do crack,heroin ,and meth just as much or even more then some of th black people!

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