Health Observance Corner

January

National Birth Defects Prevention Month
March of Dimes Birth Defects Foundation
www.marchofdimes.com
“About 120,000 babies (1 in 33) in the United States are born each year with birth defects.”

National Glaucoma Awareness Month
Prevent Blindness America
www.preventblindness.org
“More than 2.2 million Americans age 40 and older have open angle glaucoma.”

Cervical Health Awareness Month
National Cervical Cancer Coalition
www.nccc-online.org/awareness.html
“Worldwide, there are at least 350,000 new cases of cervical cancer per year, of which 80 percent occur in developing countries.”

February

American Heart Month
American Heart Association
www.americanheart.org
“Cardiovascular diseases, including stroke, are our nation's No. 1 killer.”

National Children’s Dental Health Month
American Dental Association
www.ada.org/prof/events/featured/ncdhm.asp
“The American Dental Association held the first national observance of Children's Dental Health Day on February 8, 1949.”

Prenatal Infection Prevention Month
Group B Strep International
www.groupbstrepinternational.org
“In regions where awareness and prevention efforts have been implemented, infant deaths from GBS have decreased as much as 70%.”