January 29, 2008
Racial Disparity in Infant Mortality
From the Tallahassee Democrat:
Black babies have been dying at twice the rate of white babies since the Civil War, a speaker said Saturday at a forum on infant death.
And some social scientists say the racial disparity has worsened since the period of slavery, said Dr. Jack Turman, an associate professor from the University of Southern California.
Pre-term delivery, which increased 30 percent from 1980 to 2004, is the leading cause of infant death, Turman said. About 100,000 preemies born annually will suffer long-term problems, he said. This costs the U.S. health-care system at least $26 billion a year.