NC Health Wins: Infant Mortality, Overdoses Drop

0:00It's April 28th, welcome to Durham News Today, powered by AI. I'm Corey with the story. North Carolina just dropped some major health wins for 2024. Infim mortality hit an all-time low at 6.3 deaths per 1,000 births down 8.7% from 6.9 the year before. That's fewer babies passing before their first birthday from 828 deaths to 770. Plus, overdose deaths plunged 34%. The first drop since 2019, falling from 4,442 to 2,934. Earlier this week, the Department of Health and Human Services broke it down. They credit Medicaid expansion, now covering over 700,000 more folks including moms and babies, plus handing out over 150,000 doses of reversal myths like Naloxone. Nonatal deaths, those fragile first weeks, dropped nearly 15% too. State leaders are hyped, but real about the gaps.

1:02Dr. Kelly Kimple called it encouraging from recent investments, yet racial disparities hit hard, non-Hispanic black infants face rates nearly 3. Times higher than white infants, making up over 40% of those 770 deaths. Experts like Dr. Dorothy Celensi say it's unacceptable in a state with top care. Digging deeper, opioid overdoses specifically tanked 38.3%, hitting Hispanic and black communities hardest in a good way, with prevention kicking in. Total deaths statewide dipped 1% to 106,603, third year running after pandemic peaks. These trends show investments paying off, but tackling inequities in housing, wages, and postpartum care is next to lock in the gains and save more.