Media Release
FOR: Immediate Release
DATE: April 22, 1998
CONTACT: Dr. Peter Simon 222-5928
Magaly Angeloni 222-4602
DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH LAUNCHES
"MAY LEAD POISONING PREVENTION MONTH"
PROVIDENCE - The Rhode Island Department of Health is announcing its plan for a yearlong, statewide effort for the prevention of lead poisoning. To highlight this effort, the month of May has been designated as Lead Poisoning Prevention Month. On Wednesday, April 28th at 2:00 p.m. Governor Lincoln Almond and the Department of Health will hold a kick-off event at the Pawtucket Day Nursery Association, a certified lead-safe day care facility.
Childhood lead poisoning remains one of the most significant environmental threats to the people of Rhode Island. Funding lead abatement in day care centers is an important initiative in our fight to provide a safe environment for the children of our state. "Our statewide lead abatement efforts, along with continued blood lead screening of our children, are indeed proving to be successful ways to decrease the incidence of lead poisoning," said Governor Lincoln Almond.
A blood test is the only way to know about the lead level in children. Throughout the year, the Department of Health will focus its prevention efforts on the screening of Rhode Island’s youngest residents. "We are making great strides in diminishing lead poisoning amongst children. In the last year alone, the incidence of elevated blood lead levels in children decreased from 12% to 10%. But that still means that 1 in every 10 children tested positive for lead poisoning. We still have work to do," Dr. Patricia Nolan, Director of the Department of Health, said today.
Nationwide, lead poisoning affects to almost one million children under the age of six. Lead poisoning can cause hyperactivity, learning disabilities and brain damage in young children between infancy and six years of age. With the ever-increasing number of children in this age group in day care settings, the Department of Health will focus both on working with day care facilities to enhance screening efforts and educating parents on the importance of maintaining lead-safe homes. During the summer, the Department of Health will be conducting two major initiatives: renew summer screening efforts by the Family Van, a mobile health unit, and conduct a door-to-door educational program in targeted neighborhoods to inform parents about lead-safe practices in their homes.
For more information on lead screening and prevention, parents may call the Rhode Island Department of Health, at 1-800-942-7434.
*** Click for a schedule of the mobile unit. The Department of Health urges the media to run this schedule so that their readers are aware of this valuable resource.
For speech or hearing impaired,
1-800-745-5555 (TTY)
Department of Health Website: www.health.state.ri.us
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