ABSTRACT
In New York City and in other cities as well, the cocaine epidemic is a devastating problem. There are almost 120,000 births a year in New York City. Forty percent of US children live in poverty. The national infant mortality rate is inching up, just as it has been since the beginning of the Reagan administration, and just as it is in many urban areas around the country. Few can dispute the statement that the number one cause of infant mortality in New York City is cocaine: either in its direct effects on the number of too small, perterm babies born or in the later effects of child abuse and neglect, as well as poor maternal ability to care for children. The HIV epidemic in New York City is increasingly affecting children. There now have been about 500 reported cases of Child Development Center-defined pediatric AIDS in New York City since the beginning of the epidemic.
