Winehole23
03-15-2012, 12:28 PM
The funding for the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (C.D.C.) for its lead poisoning and prevention programs (combined with asthma control in the “Healthy Homes and Lead Poisoning Prevention Program) was cut from $29 million to $2 million for the 2013 fiscal year. What that means, says Rebecca Morley, executive director of the National Center for Healthy Housing, is that “the programs that states run to prevent lead poisoning and to respond to children with elevated blood levels will be eliminated.”
Some states may find some financing, she says — “maybe just someone to answer the phone” — but the lead paint remediation assistance, the prevention and education programs, the database of recorded blood levels that allows health professionals to watch for sudden spikes in lead in particular areas that make up most of the structure that the C.D.C. and state health departments have worked to create in the years since we began to understand the damage lead can do — will be at best disrupted, and at worst, if funding isn’t restored in a later budget year, gone for good.
It’s been estimated that each dollar spent on lead paint hazard control saves anywhere from $17 to $221 (http://ehp03.niehs.nih.gov/article/info:doi/10.1289/ehp.0800408) in costs like special education and health care. Even at its lowest, that seems like a worthwhile investment — but it’s an investment that, beginning later this year, the United States will no longer be willing to make.http://parenting.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/03/07/drastic-cuts-to-lead-poisoning-and-prevention-funds/
Some states may find some financing, she says — “maybe just someone to answer the phone” — but the lead paint remediation assistance, the prevention and education programs, the database of recorded blood levels that allows health professionals to watch for sudden spikes in lead in particular areas that make up most of the structure that the C.D.C. and state health departments have worked to create in the years since we began to understand the damage lead can do — will be at best disrupted, and at worst, if funding isn’t restored in a later budget year, gone for good.
It’s been estimated that each dollar spent on lead paint hazard control saves anywhere from $17 to $221 (http://ehp03.niehs.nih.gov/article/info:doi/10.1289/ehp.0800408) in costs like special education and health care. Even at its lowest, that seems like a worthwhile investment — but it’s an investment that, beginning later this year, the United States will no longer be willing to make.http://parenting.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/03/07/drastic-cuts-to-lead-poisoning-and-prevention-funds/