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December 15,1999
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Family Living
UNICEF releases new report on children
Threat of AIDS,
war and illiteracy
may reverse recent
gains
A ssquaieb JE bess
T he eradication o f sm all pox. Basic
education. Freedom from labor. The
last century has brought dram atic
im p ro v e m en t to c h ild re n ’s lives
w orldw ide, a new U N IC EF report
show s, but the threat o f A ID S, w ar
and illiteracy m ay reverse these gains
for children o f the 21 st century.
In a report released M onday, U NICEF
noted the m any w ays children’s lives
have been im proved in the last 100
years.
W idespread iodine supplem ents have
elim inated a m ajor cause o f m ental
retardation. M ost children receive
basic education. M illions o f children
have been freed from labor. A nd in a
critical indicator o f children’s w ell
being, the m ortality rate for children
under 4 is declining in developing
nations as a whole.
But w ars, poverty and the spread o f
A ID S are m ajor obstacles to these
advancem ents, U N IC EF executive
director Carol B ellam y said in an
interview Sunday.
’’T he im pact o f H IV -A ID S and o f
conflict is in som e places now not ju st
slow ing the gains but also has the
potential for reversing the g ains,”
B ellam y said.
Every m inute, five young people are
infected w ith H IV , the virus that
causes AIDS. Eleven m illion people
ages 15 to 24 suffer from AIDS.
C onflicts, m eanw hile, have spread to
e n c o m p a s s 56 c o u n trie s w h e re
U N IC EF w orks, m aking it difficult
and som etim es im possible to deliver
the fruits o f 20th century science:
v a c c in e s a n d im m u n iz a tio n s .
A pproxim ately 540 m illion children -
one in four - live in d an g ero u s
situation, the report noted.
’’F or all the difficulties, children go
into the 21 st century b etter than they
cam e into the 20th century, ’ ’ Bellamy
said. ’’T h at’s not good enough.
’’Ithinkw hen 11 million-pluschildren
still die around the w orld every year
fro m to ta lly , t o ta lly , to ta lly
preventable causes, then it’s not good
enough to say, ‘G ee things are better
o f f than befo re.’”
T he U N IC E F rep o rt ap p eals for
leadership on the national, com munity
and fam ily level in A ID S education
and in preventing conflicts.
‘ 'T he failure ofleadership is reflected
in the increased am ount o f co n flict,’ ’
B e lla m y sa id . ’ ’T h e fa ilu re o f
leadership is reflected in the grow th
o f the H IV -A ID S pandem ic and the
u n w illin g n ess to rec o g n ize it as
som ething that really does require a
b ro ad
c o m m itm e n t fro m
a
g o v ern m e n tal p e rsp e c tiv e and a
com m unity perspective. ’ ’
O ne graphic exam ple o f how A ID S
and conflict hinder aid is the trouble
U N IC E F an d the W o rld H ealth
Organization have in eradicating polio
and G uinea worm. Both are prevalent
especially in Africa.
A id w o rk e rs h a v e d if f i c u lt ie s
reaching children w ith vaccines in
such strife-tom nations as A ngola,
Sierra Leone and Som alia - not only
because o f fighting, but also because
in som e places A ID S has claim ed the
prim ary caregiver w ho w ould bring a
child to be vaccinated.
‘ ’It turns out the m ajor obstacles now
to eradicating polio are not, ‘D o w e
have a vaccine or do w e have enough
money,’ ... the biggest single problem
is access,” B ellam y noted.
In order to vaccinate children in
A fg h a n is ta n o r S u d a n o r th e
D em o cratic R e p u b lic o f C o n g o
a g a in s t
d is e a s e s
e r a d ic a te d
elsewhere, Bellamy said UNICEF and
o th e r
n o n g o v e r n m e n ta l
organizations m ust n eg o tiate so-
called ‘ ’days o f tranquility.”
The state o f the w o rld ’s children in
1999 contrasts starkly w ith a decade
ago, when the 1990 W orld Sum m it for
C h ild re n se t o u t su c h g o als as
e ra d ic a tin g p o lio a n d re d u c in g
mortality rates for children under five.
In m any p laces, g o als th at then
se e m e d p la u s ib le h a v e b e e n
overw helm ed by the realities o f the
post-Cold W ar era, w hich has brought
greater in stability and disp arities
between rich and poor, Bellamy noted.
But also surprising to B ellam y was
‘’the enorm ous contrast betw een a
20th cen tu ry that has seen such
technological, m edical and scientific
advances and a 21st century that we
still enter w ith a sixth o f the w o rld ’s
population virtually illiterate. ’ ’
More households qualify
for help with heating bills
CONTRIBUTED STORY
M ore h o u seh o ld s in M ultnom ah
County will qualify for financial aid to
help p ay heating bills this w inter,
thanks to an increase in the program ’s
income guidelines. The effect is a real
e x p a n s io n o f th e n u m b e r o f
M ultnom ah County households that
are eligible for the Low Income Energy
A ssista n c e P rogram (L IE A P ), a
fe d e ra l p ro g ra m m a n a g e d by
M ultnom ah C ounty’s D epartm ent o f
C om m unity and Fam ily Services.
L IE A P p r o v id e s p a y m e n ts fo r
household utility bills.
To qualify for energy assistance,
applicants m ust be at or below 60% o f
median income forOregon. Examples
o f the new incom e guidelines are:
•
Monthly income o f $1,197 or less
for a household o f one
•
M onthly income of$2,255 or less
for a household o f four
•
$ 3 5 2 .5 0 for each ad ditional
household m em ber
Mattel searches for
safer plastics
The toymaker
wants to find bio
degradable, non
petroleum
replacement for
phthalates
A ssociated P ress
C o n su m er a d v o c ates hope o th e r
com panies will follow M attel Inc.’s
lead after the toym aker announced it
w ould seek an alternative to a plastics
chem ical that has been linked to liver
and kidney dam age.
Phthalates are used to soften plastics
for teething rings and playthings
babies and toddlers love to sink their
teeth into.
M attel is asking scientists to find a
b io d e g r a d a b le , n o n - p e tr o le u m
replacem ent for phthalates, w hich
have been used in M attel’s ow n Barbie
dolls.
" M a tte l’s
th e
la r g e s t
to y
m anufacturer. W e’re very pleased
w ith their announcem ent and hope
other com panies w ill follow ,” said
Je ff W ise, policy director for the
N ational E nvironm ental Trust.
M attel announced its plan T uesday,
a d a y b e f o r e th e N a tio n a l
Environmental Trust released a report
on the toxic additives.
T he report said M attel and other
com panies still use phthalates in some
to y s e v e n th o u g h th e f e d e ra l
C onsum er P roduct Safety Council
last year recom m ended they stop until
m ore research is done.
"W e found it in every soft bath toy
that we tested, every squeeze toy
that w e tested. W e th in k th a t’s a
serious p rob lem ,” W ise said. ’’The
g o v e rn m e n t la s t y e a r to o k th is
s e rio u s ly e n o u g h to m a k e th is
request. W e think the toy industry
should take this seriously enough to
honor it.”
T he danger posed by phthalates is
disputed by scientists.
E uropean studies conducted on rats
linked the chem icals to liver and
kidney ailm ents. S ubsequent studies
in the U nited States have found that
the level o f exposure required to
trigger health problem s far exceed the
am ount children are likely to ingest
by sucking or chew ing on toys.
T oys w ith the highest concentrations
o f phthalates as a percentage o f total
w eight, according to the study, w ere
P la y s k o o l’s B a r n e y ’s T w in k e n
squeeze toy, 57 percent; M attel’s
Pooh Bathtub Pal, 47 percent; and
M ega B lo k s’ T eletubby squeeze toy,
54 percent.
T he study acknow ledged that m ost
m ajor toym akers, including M attel,
h a d r e m o v e d p h th a la te s fro m
teething rings and soft rattles.
In se ek in g a lte rn a tiv e s , th e toy
industry is responding to increasing
pressure from activists, toy retailers
and the E uropean C om m ission, the
adm inistrative arm o f the European
Union.
TIPS for a safe holiday party
Planning a holiday party? W hether
you are having a party at a bar, hotel,
office, or hom e, a plan for serving
a lc o h o l r e s p o n s ib ly is a m u st.
C onsider the follow ing “T op Ten
H oliday T IP S ” provided by the TIPS
( T r a in in g
fo r
I n te r v e n tio n
Procedures) program . Follow ing a
sensible strategy for serving alcohol
can prevent intox ication and drunken
d riv in g w hile still en su rin g that
everyone has a good time.
1. H ire only bartenders w ho are
trained in the responsible service
o f alcohol.
2. O ffer soft drinks, fruit juices,
bottled w ater and coffee so that
guests have an alternative to
alcohol.
3. H ave the servers “card” anyone
w ho looks under 30. N o I.D., no
alcohol.
4. Rem ind guests that even i f they
are not driving, it is against the
law to serve a visibly intoxicated
person.
5.
H ire security or other m onitors
to observe the event aw ay from
the service areas.
6. C lose the bar about one hour
before the event is finished.
7. M a k e f re e tr a n s p o r ta tio n
available both to and from an
event in order to prevent drunk
driving.
8. Plan entertainm ent and other
activities so that drinking alcohol
is not the focus o f an event.
9. D on’t serve anyone m ore than
one drink at a time.
10. Ensure that there is food available
- eating w ill help slow dow n
drinking and alcohol absorption
into the bloodstream .
In tod ay ’s w orld o f ever increasing
m isinform ation about Blood A lcohol
C ontent (B A C ) and the dangers o f
drinking, the TIPS mission “to educate
and train all facets o f society in the
responsible sale and consum ption o f
a lc o h o l” h as n e v e r b e e n m o re
relevant.
C I99S U S WEST I t o 2000 RpadineM Osclosur«
i
“ H ouseholds need to verify their
incom e and heating expenses for this
one-tim e paym ent, w hich averages
around $200,” said Frances Spak, o f
P ortland Im pact, a local service
provider. The program lasts until
funds run out, w hich is typically
betw een M arch and May.
To apply for LIEAP, county residents
should contact one o f the following
c o m m u n ity a g e n c ie s in th e ir
neighborhood.
In M ultnom ah County:
D ow ntow n A rea Salvation Arm y,
239-1226
N orth A rea St. Jo h n ’s YW CA 721-
6762
N ortheast A rea A lbina M inisterial
Alliance. 285-0493
Northwest Area Friendly House, 228-
4335
E astC ounfy(eastofS E 82°d) Human
Solutions, 248-5201
Southw est A rea
N eighborhood
House, 246-1663
Southeast A rea
Portland Impact,
736-6000