HRSA/MCHB 2005 FEDERAL/STATE PARTNERSHIP MEETING

PUBLIC HEALTH ACROSS THE LIFESPAN

Child Health Stamp

MARY ANNE GIBBONS: Thank you, Ann. Let me say before I start with my prepared remarks, the Postal Service was very instrumental in the recovery efforts from the recent Hurricanes Rita and Katrina. Very proud to say that we had mail service back up within three days.

And largely because we knew that the hurricanes occurred right before the first of the month, and there were Social Security checks, Welfare checks, and other checks in the mail, and we knew that the people who were on the receiving end of those checks really, really needed to get that money. So fast as we could, we got systems in place to get those checks out.

Anyway, so let me get back to the reason that I'm here today. And I wanted to thank you very much for inviting me. I've had the pleasure at lunch of hearing about the different aspects of what people in this room do and think that you provide a terrific service to the country.

We are so happy to be part of this effort to help protect our children. And that's why last month we issued the stamp you've all gotten a stamp pin, thanks to my colleagues here in Stamp Services. I hope everybody has their pen on. We dedicated the Child Health Stamps in Philadelphia at the Children's Hospital and also at St. Judes Hospital in Memphis. And you know that both of those hospitals have been very, very important in the lives of children and, in particular, with children's health. And as you see with the stamp pens that you have, the stamp depicts a silhouette of a physician placing a stethoscope on the child's chest. He's checking on the future, and as you all do, you really help to do that as well.

The reason that we've issued the stamp is really to help educate the American public about what they can do to better help care for the health of children. It's designed to remind all Americans of four things. And if you were to go to the Post Office and buy the big flat block of stamps, you'd see these four messages around, printed around the edge of the block. And that's to have regular medical checkups for children, to wear seatbelts properly all the time, have a balanced diet for children, and regular exercise, all of which to ensure a healthy future for children.

We thought it was the perfect year to issue these stamps, because, as you know, the Surgeon General has declared it the year of the healthy child. So we're happy that these two things came together. As mentioned, I am the mother of two children, young children, a six‑year‑old and a three‑year‑old. As I tell people, I did my life a little bit backwards. I didn't have this gray hair put in.

And my son, who we most recently adopted, was in a very loving foster care home, but from what we learned when we spent some time in his country didn't appear that he was getting a healthy diet consistently during the beginning parts of his life. So, of course, when we got him back here at 19 months, we pumped him up with as many nutritious things we could think of. And when he went for his check‑up about a year later he had grown a whopping four inches. So we thought that was really good and probably attributed to the good nutrition. He might now make five nine the pediatrician tells us. That's pretty good. We were hoping for five six.

Our daughter we adopted actually at two days old so we obviously didn't have the nutrition issues, but of course one concern was the health of her mother, particularly during the pregnancy. And we were very fortunate that the birth mother did eat really well, and of course didn't smoke. So fortunately she didn't at least get a start with any challenging nutritional issues. So we were really happy about that.

Being part of an adoptive community, we've really learned a lot about the different issues that adopted children face coming from different countries, and even being adopted in the United States. So we definitely agree that the issues that are being pushed by this stamp are very important and that everybody, both the parents and the people here who are not parents of young children or perhaps past that stage, really do have the power to do something special in the lives of children.

As I'm sure you in this room know better than I, most of the health issues that children face are preventable. So we can all play a really big role in helping to prevent some of those issues. Motor vehicle accidents, as I'm sure many of you know, are among the leading cause of death of children ages five to nine. So if we get those seatbelts on, even on the short trips to the grocery store, obviously that can help not necessarily prevent the accident, but at least help make the children a little bit safer if they do have an accident.

We also need to childproof our homes so they don't have any issues there. Updating our children's immunization records, of course, are very important. And as I mentioned earlier, providing them with a balanced diet, very important. And also being sure that they get adequate exercise. As I say to my children, the TV is off most of the time. And particularly with the children who are into the video games, important to get them off the computer and outside and moving. Finally, of course, you can do that for their physical well‑being. But if we don't also attend to their psychological well‑being, that will present huge challenges as that child goes through life. We need to make sure they grow up in a supportive and loving environment.

Postal Service we want every year to be the year of the healthy child, not just this year. And so with this stamp we know that it's got the power to send that message loud and clear, not only this year, but afterwards. So one of the things that we know will happen, those stamps are available now in Post Offices or on line. You can go to USPS.com and go to the post stall store and purchase those stamps. We are in every community just about every day. So just in this room, if everybody purchased those stamps and put them on every envelope, it will be a good reminder for people to do those things that help the children to be very healthy.

Just since I dedicated the stamp last month, I think every time I get in that car when my six‑year‑old says I'm really too big to use that seatbelt, I think that's what the doctor said, you know she's not old enough yet to be out of the child seatbelt that she so hates, but it really reminds me to be persistent in making sure it goes on no matter where we're driving.

The stamp, I think, very well coordinates with the general mission of the Postal Service, which is to bind the nation together through the personal, educational, literary and business correspondence of the people.

We've issued not only this stamp, but as you know a number of other social awareness stamps, as part of a program to fulfill that general mission. Some of the others that I'm sure you've seen, the breast cancer awareness stamp, the sickle cell disease stamp. The mentoring stamp, the organ and tissue donation stamp, the AIDS awareness stamp and the adoption stamp, and many, many more, and part of the reason we do that is to help get these important social messages across to all of our customers.

Speaking of the child health stamp image, now that the stamp is traveling across the country quickly, easily, inexpensively for only $0.37 and affordably on letters and packages to every home in the country, we do hope that it's helping to raise the public's awareness. I won't ask for a show of hands, but I do hope everybody here has been to the Post Office to buy this stamp. I'm sure after today you'll all go there and use those until we run out. So that would be great.

Anyway, as you know, it is all up to us. I think you know that even better than anybody in the Postal Service but it really is up to all of us to get that message out and to make sure we do whatever we can to protect the health of those children, because certainly they are the future of our country.

So now I have to pop a button here so we'll see the big image up on the ‑‑ I'm not in IT you can tell.

Well, Ann's not in IT either. Ha, there it is. We got it. So the child health stamp. So my pleasure to show you the big image of it. You'll see around the edge the messages, the car seat, the diet, the exercise and the good medical checkups. So I thank you very much for inviting me here today, and I think more importantly thank you for all the wonderful, wonderful work that everybody in this room does all different angles on keeping our children healthy, but really thank you and thank you for helping to spread the message on children's health. It's really very, very important and before I sit down I wanted to call Ann back up. I have a little presentation, and Dr. VanDyck, please come up.

ANN DRUM: Mary Anne, thank you for such a lovely talk and really, thank you to the U.S. Postal Service for recognizing Child Health as such an important topic.