Joint Statement on Children's Health Issues
Wednesday, September 29, 2004

Six past presidents of the American Academy of Pediatrics, bestselling child health author Dr. T. Berry Brazelton, and more than two dozen other leading U.S. pediatricians, will release a joint statement that is sharply critical of President George W. Bush's record on children's health issues and other key needs of children.

News event speakers will be: Dr. T. Berry Brazelton, professor emeritus, Harvard University School of Medicine, Brazelton Institute; Dr. Steven Berman, a Denver, CO pediatrician and past president of the American Academy of Pediatrics; Dr. Don Schiff, a Denver, CO pediatrician and past president of the American Academy of Pediatrics; Dr. Joel Alpert, a Boston, MA pediatrician and past president of the American Academy of Pediatrics; Dr. Renèe Jenkins, a Washington, DC pediatrician and chair of Pediatrics at Howard University Medical School; and Michael R. Petit, president and founder, Vote Kids.

Key issues covered in the joint statement include: the 27 million children who lacked health insurance at some point in 2002-2003 (including 8 million now estimated to have no coverage), attacks on Head Start, the lack of a Bush commitment to pre-natal care, basic maternal and child health services, preventive child health services including immunizations, medical treatment of acute and chronic illness (such as childhood asthma), pediatric health professionals training and pediatric medical research.