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Maternal and child health

Use of health status indicators in coordinating and targeting federal programs

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Abstract

The United States has achieved dramatic improvements in overall maternal and child health status, yet faces disturbingly wide variations in the health status of many population subgroups. The Surgeon General in 1980 published specific quantitative objectives to stimulate further improvements in the health of the American people by 1990. A critical step in meeting relevant objectives is the more effective use at national, state, and local levels of available data, particularly infant, perinatal, neonatal, and maternal mortality rates and the incidence of low weight births. This paper reviews variations in infant mortality rates and five current federal “categorical” programs that aim to improve maternal and child health: Supplemental Feeding Program for Women, Infants and Children; Head Start; Maternal and Child Health; Family Planning; and Community Health Centers. Several examples are cited of effective use of data in the coordination and targeting of resources from these large public programs. Recommendations are made for enhancement of federal maternal and child health programs within current funding levels. These recommendations will be all the more relevant if the Congress enacts block grants to the states with lower total funding.

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Authors
  1. Gilbert S. Omenn M.D., Ph.D.
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Additional information

Dr. Omenn is Professor of Medicine (Medical Genetics), and of Environmental Health, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195. He was formerly Program Associate Director for Human Resources, Office of Management and Budget, Executive Office of the President, Washington, D.C. and Visiting Senior Fellow, Woodrow Wilson School for Public and International Affairs, Princeton University.

The author is indebted to Barbara S. Selfridge and John O. Ostenso for expert technical assistance, program analyses, and many helpful comments. This paper was presented in part at the opening session of the Surgeon General's Workshop on Maternal and Infant Health, Reston, Virginia, December 1980, under the title, “A Domestic View: Federal Maternal and Infant Health Services Programs.”

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Omenn, G.S. Maternal and child health. J Community Health 7, 194–210 (1982). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01325515

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