NEW: Rhode Island’s Lead Poisoning Prevention Program Threatened by CDC Budget Cuts
Friday, February 03, 2012
Without immediate intervention by President Obama, the Rhode Island Department of Health’s Lead and Healthy Homes Program, along with 34 other state health departments, will be devastated by extreme cuts in funding, approved by Congress in December.
The appropriations bill for FY12 slashed the Centers for Disease Control’s (CDC) Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Program by 94% - providing only $2 million for this critical program, down from $29 million last year. Nearly a half million children rely on the services of this program nationwide, including the 200 children newly diagnosed with lead poisoning in Rhode Island. While the incidence of childhood lead poisoning is declining, RI saw a disturbing increase in the number of children hospitalized for lead poisoning last year. Only one child was hospitalized in 2010, but in 2011, 5 were hospitalized with dangerously high levels of lead in their blood.
If the budget cuts remain, Rhode Island’s childhood lead poisoning prevention program will seriously reduce its capacity to monitor blood lead screening and respond to every child who has an elevated blood lead level with a home inspection and referrals for medical intervention and lead remediation. Additionally, the program’s prevention efforts will likely disappear regarding proactive housing policies, community education and outreach.
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“Gutting childhood lead poisoning prevention programs will leave more children behind and send us on a race to the bottom – not to the top”, said Roberta Hazen Aaronson, Executive Director of the Childhood Lead Action Project.
The funding cut will widen the achievement gap between white and minority students, and between wealthy and poor students. High blood lead levels are associated with a decline of about 15% in reading and math scores. Children poisoned by lead are seven times more likely to drop out of school and six times more likely to end up in the juvenile justice system. Studies show that educating a child with lead poisoning costs an extra $38,000. If even half of the children with lead poisoning incur these costs - that’s a $10 billion price tag.
“Lead poisoning prevention programs have had a significant impact on the health and safety of Rhode Island’s youth,” said Director of Health, Michael Fine, MD. “Immigrant and low-income children are at the most risk. Lead exposure has a real impact on their ability to function in school and at home, and will have lasting negative consequences later in life. Protection and prevention from lead poisoning is a high priority for public health.”
This funding decision follows on the heels of a recommendation by a CDC advisory committee to lower the threshold (as low as 5mcg/dl down from 10mcg/dl and above) for when a child is considered to have so much lead in his or her blood that immediate intervention is needed. The resulting change in the “action level” will significantly increase the caseload of poisoned kids needing assistance. Health experts nationwide applaud this recommendation as long overdue. A 2009 study of Providence kindergarten children showed that two-thirds of the kids had too much lead in their blood, when lowering the threshold for intervention. In 2011 over 1,700 RI children tested at this lower action level.
The Childhood Lead Action Project, along with advocates nationwide, call on President Obama and Secretary Sebelius to immediately reverse this devastating budget cut.
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