Childhood lead poisoning prevention and surveillance of blood lead levels in children - lead poisoning remains a significant public health problem in new york state (NYS)

The NYS department of health (nysdoh) continues to invest substantially in secondary and primary prevention programs, and as a result, the number of cases of childhood lead poisoning has steadily declined since 1998. Despite these important gains, NYS continues to have the greatest number of cases of childhood lead poisoning in the nation. From 2016 through 2019, blood lead tests in NYS identified an annual average of 13,893 children under age six with blood lead levels (blls) at or above the CDC reference value of 5?g/DL, a rate of 16.5 per 1000 tested statewide (including all test types). Thousands more are likely to be at risk given the prevalence of associated risk factors in NYS (e.g., poverty, old and deteriorating housing stock). The financial impact of NYS?s high burden of childhood lead poisoning is sobering. Evidence suggests that the societal costs of lead poisoning on lifetime earnings, tax revenue, educational services and juvenile justice system greatly outweigh the costs associated with remediating lead poisoning hazards. NYS has addressed these needs by maintaining a comprehensive interactive statewide blood lead registry and surveillance system, and investing in statewide lead poisoning prevention programs for children with elevated blood lead levels (eblls), including two primary prevention programs targeted to high-risk communities across the state. These programs are supported by a significant investment of NYS funding, as well as laws and regulations mandating universal testing and appropriate follow-up care for children with eblls and defining requirements for laboratory reporting and the assessment and remediation of lead hazards. This public health approach has contributed greatly to the decline in childhood lead poisoning in NYS over the past 20 years, but in many communities, lead poisoning persists as a major threat to child development and educational outcomes. Additional aggressive action to increase testing rates and reduce exposure to lead hazards before children are poisoned remains a state public health priority. The proposed work describes a community and systems-based approach that will create a more sustainable and effective infrastructure to advance NYS?s aim of eliminating childhood lead poisoning. Component a.the proposed work is organized around three goals: ? Ensuring blood lead testing and reporting ? Enhancing blood lead surveillance ? Improving linkages of lead-exposed children to recommended services component b.the proposed work is organized around developing targeted, population-based primary prevention interventions. Activities proposed to reach this goal include: ? Evaluating and updating procedures for the NYS public health law-mandated childhood lead poisoning primary prevention program (clpppp) to ensure that primary prevention funds are equitably distributed to the most at-risk communities.? A GIS mapping project to guide our primary prevention activities and outreach and education campaigns. ? Targeting communities at highest risk for ebll with a multifaceted media campaign. The objectives and activities outlined under each goal will leverage nysdoh?s existing lead poisoning prevention infrastructure, capitalize on nysdoh?s impressive network of state and local partners, target more vulnerable populations in terms of SES, race/ethnicity, and/or refugee status for primary prevention activities, and build a more sustainable, effective and cohesive system for eliminating childhood lead poisoning.