For years, Duval County has had one of the state’s highest infant mortality rates, ranking above both the national and state-wide averages. For African American residents in Jacksonville, the rate of infant mortality is even higher.
“It’s our black babies that tend to have the higher risk of infant mortality than our Caucasian babies do here in Duval County,” Chief Health Officer for the City of Jacksonville, Dr. Sunil Joshi, explained Monday. “The same is true throughout the country, but certainly an issue here.”
While Jacksonville mayor Donna Deegan originally set aside $310,000 to prevent infant mortality in her proposed city budget for 2025-2026, the final version set to be voted on by the city council Tuesday night doesn’t include over a third of that. Jacksonville city council has since shaved off what would have been $110k towards congenital syphilis screening done by the Northeast Florida Healthy Start Coalition…