NCJ Number
142712
Date Published
1993
Length
47 pages
Annotation
Recommendations of the National Commission on Children to reform the health care system for the underserved focus on empowering low-income individuals and families to obtain health care, eliminating government-induced distortions in the health care delivery and financing system, and restructuring tax subsidies and government programs to achieve social equity.
Abstract
The commission recommends that recent efforts to expand health care for the underserved be carefully monitored and evaluated in order to determine the best ways of enhancing health care access. Problems resulting from malnutrition must be addressed by dealing with the climate of violence, drugs, and promiscuous sexual activity instead of simply increasing funding for the Special Supplemental Food Program for Women, Infants, and Children. All programs and services for children and youth must involve parents, and increased support must be available for abstinence education as the primary means of reducing the spread of AIDS and sexually transmitted diseases. Further, the media and community organizations must take their roles seriously in promoting healthy behavior by parents and children. An appendix lists members of the National Commission on Children's Implementation Working Group on Improving Health. 20 notes