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| 1 | HOUSE RESOLUTION
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| 2 | WHEREAS, Infant mortality refers to the death of a baby | ||||||
| 3 | before it reaches its first birthday; and
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| 4 | WHEREAS, Illinois ranks 29th among the 50 states in infant | ||||||
| 5 | mortality rates; in 2014, the Illinois infant mortality rate | ||||||
| 6 | reached 6.2 deaths per 1,000 live births, which has remained | ||||||
| 7 | relatively unchanged since 2010; and
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| 8 | WHEREAS, The current infant mortality rate is a significant | ||||||
| 9 | and troubling public health issue, especially for African | ||||||
| 10 | American families, Native American families, and Hispanic | ||||||
| 11 | families; and | ||||||
| 12 | WHEREAS, The infant mortality rate among African American | ||||||
| 13 | women is triple that of Caucasian women, according to the | ||||||
| 14 | Illinois Department of Public Health; and
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| 15 | WHEREAS, The Illinois Department of Public Health and other | ||||||
| 16 | stakeholders in the Collaborative Improvement and Innovation | ||||||
| 17 | Network to Reduce Infant Mortality are committed to addressing | ||||||
| 18 | infant mortality by focusing on preconception and | ||||||
| 19 | interconception health, Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, social | ||||||
| 20 | determinants of health, early elective delivery, and perinatal | ||||||
| 21 | regionalization; and
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| 1 | WHEREAS, A set of goals and objectives with 10-year targets | ||||||
| 2 | designed to guide national health promotion and disease | ||||||
| 3 | prevention, known as Healthy People 2020, include an objective | ||||||
| 4 | regarding a decrease in the rate of infant mortality; and
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| 5 | WHEREAS, September 1, 2015 will begin a period of several | ||||||
| 6 | months of national and state observances that relate to the | ||||||
| 7 | issue of infant mortality, including the observance of October | ||||||
| 8 | as Sudden Infant Death Awareness Month and November as | ||||||
| 9 | Prematurity Awareness Month; therefore, be it
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| 10 | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | ||||||
| 11 | NINETY-NINTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we | ||||||
| 12 | designate September of 2015 as Infant Mortality Awareness Month | ||||||
| 13 | in the State of Illinois and applaud the Illinois Department of | ||||||
| 14 | Public Health's mission to reduce infant mortality; and be it | ||||||
| 15 | further
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| 16 | RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be | ||||||
| 17 | delivered to the Illinois Department of Public Health, the | ||||||
| 18 | Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services, the | ||||||
| 19 | Illinois Department of Human Services, the Office of the | ||||||
| 20 | Governor, and the Speaker and Minority Leader of the House of | ||||||
| 21 | Representatives.
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