A disproportionate number of the 1,346 children reported as having aids are black or Hispanic, according to new federal statistics.
Figures released by the federal Centers for Disease Control last month indicate that 53 percent of all children under age 13 with aids are black, while 23 percent are Hispanic.
Among all children with aids, 78 percent acquired the infection while in their mother’s womb. Another 19 percent contracted it from blood transfusions or blood products used to treat hemophilia, while 4 percent were exposed by unknown means, according to the report.
The means of transmission show sharp differences according to race, the cdc figures reveal. Approximately half of afflicted black and Hispanic children have mothers who are users of intravenous drugs, while roughly 20 percent have mothers who have had sex with drug-using men.
In contrast, only 32 percent of the white children with aids have mothers who were either directly or indirectly involved with intravenous drugs, the cdc reported. Half of the white children with the disease had received blood transfusions or blood products.
Policymakers should view child care and early education as “complementary elements of a broad approach to a state’s economy,” the National Conference of State Legislatures argues in a new report.
In “Child Care and Early Childhood Education Policy: A Legislator’s Guide,” the n.c.s.l. urges lawmakers to work to expand and coordinate early-years services and to reduce their cost for parents.
The guide offers recommendations on how to proceed and describes exemplary policies in Massachusetts and Washington State.
Copies of the report are available for $11.50 each from the Book Order Department, ncsl, 1050 17th St., Suite 2100, Denver, Colo. 80265.
