A task force has been formed in the State of Ohio which will focus on lowering infant mortality and racial disparity.
Ohio Governor Mike DeWine announced the formation of the task force after a 2019 report by the Ohio Department of Health (ODH) showed 929 Ohio Infants died before their first birthday in 2019. The number is down from 938 in 2018, marking a third straight year of decline.
A total of 356 Black infant deaths were reported in the state of Ohio in 2019, which is an increase of 17 from 2018. ODH states that the racial disparities gap continues to widen, with Black infants being 2.8 times more likely to die than white infants.
The number of white infants that died in 2019 was 518, the lowest number in the past 10 years.
The infant mortality rate is the number of infant deaths per 1,000 live births. Across all races, the infant mortality rate in 2019 was 6.9 per 1,000 live births. That number was the same in 2018. The black infant mortality rate was 14.3 in 2019, up from 13.9 in 2018.
The Ohio and national goal is 6.0 or fewer infant deaths per 1,000 live births in every racial and ethnic group.
"Since my first full day in office, when we created the Home Visiting Advisory Committee, we have been working to reduce infant mortality and the racial disparities that exist. The situation is unacceptable: Race and zip code should never dictate your health outcomes," said Ohio Governor Mike DeWine, in a press release. "With the help of the legislature, we have invested new resources into proven programs, such as evidence-based home visiting programs, group prenatal programs, community navigators, and other programs designed to address infant mortality and racial disparities. Since the report only goes through 2019, it does not show the full impact of these investments since funding began in late 2019. Yet, there is no doubt we must do more."
The task force, named the Eliminating Racial Disparities in Infant Mortality Task force, will be working with local, state, and national leaders to identify needed changes to address Ohio's racial disparities in infant mortality.
The goal of the task force is to develop a statewide shared vision and strategy of reducing infant mortality rates and eliminating racial disparities by 2030 and to create actionable recommendations for interventions, performance and quality improvement, data collection, and policies to advise the Governor's Office of Children's Initiative on improving Ohio's investments and strategies in addressing racial inequities in birth outcomes.
The task force will begin its work in January 2021.
