DATE: Saturday, March 1, 1997               TAG: 9703010002

SECTION: FRONT                   PAGE: A12  EDITION: FINAL 

TYPE: Editorial 
                                            LENGTH:   66 lines

CHILDREN'S HEALTH KIDS AT RISK

Hampton Roads is growing into a thriving metropolitan area. Unfortunately, that growth has been accompanied by many of the problems associated with urbanization.

Nothing is more alarming than deficiencies in health care that are normally associated with urban areas and pockets of poverty.

Earlier this week 10 children's health experts unveiled the results of a one-year study of health problems among the young people of Hampton Roads. Included in the study area were the Peninsula and Eastern Shore. The findings of these experts, as reported by staff writer Debra Gordon, are worrisome.

Among the 10 most urgent health-care problems cited in the study are: teen pregnancy, asthma, lack of prenatal health care, an underreliance on breastfeeding, low birth-weight babies, child abuse, injuries, HIV/AIDS and low rates of immunization.

According to the study, this area's teen pregnancy rate is one-third higher than the state's. And 42 percent of the pediatric HIV patients in the state live in Hampton Roads while only 23 percent of Virginia's children live here.

Most disheartening and at the root of these health problems is the fact that 25 percent of pregnant women in Hampton Roads fail to receive early prenatal care. That is significantly higher than the rest of the state where 17 percent of women lack early prenatal care.

The medical community has long recognized that lack of prenatal care often leads to costly problems in the later stages of pregnancy, problems at delivery and a host of health problems for infants, including some birth defects.

In a region such as Hampton Roads, which boasts a fine medical school and one of the nation's best children's hospitals, these statistics are especially troubling. We ought to be able to do better by our children.

Health experts say a regional effort to pull together health professionals and school and city leaders could help address many of these problems quickly - and at relatively low cost.

Steps in that direction have already been successful. For instance, it was discovered three years ago that immunization rates were low - only 47 percent of Norfolk's preschool children had received their shots on schedule in 1994. Analysis revealed that the roots of the problem were a lack of education about immunization and transportation problems to and from free health clinics.

Norfolk implemented programs that relied heavily on the help of school nurses. The nurses acted as clearinghouses for information to the community. In addition to sending home fliers about the importance of immunizations with schoolchildren, the nurses actually administered immunizations on school property to younger siblings of schoolchildren, making accessibility to those shots easy. Additionally, TRT offered free passes to those traveling to community clinics for immunizations.

The results of this effort are encouraging. Today 60 percent of Norfolk's preschool children are fully immunized and those rates are climbing steadily toward the 90 percent goal set for the year 2000.

Health-care experts insist that prenatal and infant health care more than pays for itself. Women who lack prenatal care tend to give birth to low birth-weight babies who are prone to illnesses and hospitalizations. Those children are more likely to suffer from a lifetime of costly conditions including asthma, allergies and learning disabilities.

Too often, regional cooperation is seen only as a tool for economic development. Local health officials challenge that notion by urging a regional approach to bring adequate health care to the most vulnerable population in Hampton Roads: pregnant women and children. Particularly those living in poverty.

It is a challenge worth accepting.

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