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Thursday, October 24th, 2013

Infant Mortality Rises in North Carolina: Black Babies Do Better in Botswana

Author:    
Source:     Daily Kos
Publication Date:     Tue Oct 22, 2013 at 07:12 PM PDT
 Link: Infant Mortality Rises in North Carolina: Black Babies Do Better in Botswana
Stephan:   The difference in social outcomes between Red value states and Blue values states continues to increase. (See social Values, Social Wellness: Can We Know What Works http://www.explorejournal.com/article/S1550-8307%2811%2900346-6/fulltext). It constitutes such an unnecessary tragedy. Here is the latest. Think about what this report is saying about the U.S.. The only Southern state to really embrace Obamacare is Kentucky, and they are having notable success getting previously uninsured people insured. Kentucky has had terrible health outcome statistics. If more people get insured, and the outcomes improve it will be interesting to see how the other Southern states respond. Click through to see the maps.

Botswana, a 96% black African nation, has an infant mortality rate of 9.9 per 1000 live births according to the CIA. North Carolina’s infant mortality rate rose for the second year in a row in 2012 to 7.4 per 1000 for all babies and 13.9 per 1000 for black infants. Black babies in their first year of life have better prospects for survival in Botswana than North Carolina. Rural counties with high African American populations along the I-95 corridor have extraordinarily high infant mortality rates for a developed nation. Japan’s infant mortality rate is 2.2 while the rate in Pasquotank County, NC is 20.4. Yet, Governor McCrory (R) has refused to expand Medicaid to cover the working poor, rejected running a state health insurance exchange under the Affordable Care Act, delayed funding the Women’s Infants and Children program, slashed unemployment insurance, and is attempting to privatize a state run Medicaid program that had been a national model before the great recession hit.

‘It’s discouraging that the rate worsened, particularly after the past several years, where we were at record lows,

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