Health Committee Chairman:
The Honorable Artur Davis

Survey Health Needs of Black Belt Counties
Survey given to city and county leaders in each Black Belt County January 26, 2005- Survey Mailed from ADECA with results compiled from all 12 counties.

Black Belt Eye Care Consortium Formed
Over the last few years, many organizations have independently worked in the Black Belt to provide eye
care to children and adults. These organizations provide children and adults access to screening, referral, treatment, educational follow-up, or a combination of these activities. Governor Riley's Black Belt Action Commission, under the leadership of Congressman Artur Davis as Chairman of the Health Committee, has brought several organizations together to form the Black Belt Eye Care Consortium. "Proper eye care is a
dire necessity for children and adults," said Davis. "I am very pleased that these groups have decided to
work together to begin to deliver a sense of normalcy to the lives of adults and children who otherwise
would struggle at the most basic tasks in life. This is direct achievement of the Governor's Black Belt Action Commission, and I am hopeful that there will be many more to follow."

Project Managers Jeff Haddox of Sight Savers of Alabama and Dr. Mary Jean Sanspree of Rural Alabama Diabetes and Glaucoma Initiative (RADGI) are coordinating activities between their organizations to minimize duplication of services and enhance follow-up services. The Rural Alabama Diabetes and Glaucoma Initiative (RADGI) focuses on vision, glaucoma and diabetes screening and evaluation and treatment among both adults and children. It also provides screening for hypertension and high cholesterol. To date, RADGI has sponsored several temporary clinics that have screened over 4,000 adults and children in the Black Belt. The Alabama Lions Sight Conservation Association works closely with RADGI to vision-screen adults in selected Black Belt counties.

Several organizations have focused their vision-screening efforts on children in the Black Belt. Vision
Research Corporation (VRC) vision-screens every public school kindergartener in Alabama. Alabama Lions
Sight Conservation Association vision-screens students in selected schools in Alabama. Another project, FocusFirst, a "signature initiative" of Impact Alabama, operates a statewide campus-based network of
trained college students conducting free vision screenings for underserved children in HeadStart and day
care facilities throughout Alabama. Once the screenings are completed, organizations such as VRC and FocusFirst refer those in need to Sight Savers of Alabama.

Sight Savers is a nonprofit organization, which coordinates these referrals to provide eye care for
hundreds of Black Belt children each year. The network of eye care professionals provides each child
with an eye exam, followed by appropriate treatment, such as glasses, vision aids, surgeries or other prescribed treatments. Often these children are provided treatment at temporary clinics set-up by the Community Care Network and the RADGI manned by eye care professionals from the UAB Department of Ophthalmology and Eye Care Alabama.

Eye Care Alabama and the Community Care Network have partnered to provide ophthalmic services for both adults and children. In January these services were provided in Hayneville, and are scheduled to be offered
to children referred by Sight Savers of Alabama and adults referred by Community Care Network
approximately every six weeks in the Black Belt.

One of the aims of the Black Belt Action Commission is to consolidate and enhance activities such as this, which provide assistance in all aspects of Black Belt life. With over 115 Commissioners, Technical Advisors, and Volunteers, the Health Committee is the largest of the 13 committees.

Chad Nichols, the Governor's Special Projects Coordinator to the Health Committee, states that "the Health Committee is doing an outstanding job, under the leadership of Congressman Davis, of identifying resources and building coalitions to improve healthcare in the Black Belt." A calendar listing of all 2005 eye care activities in the Black Belt is currently being constructed.

Medical Reserve Corps (MRC)

• 253 Units Across the United States
• 46 States have at least 1 MRC unit
• Alabama is one of four states that does not have a MRC unit

Mission
The mission of the Medical Reserve Corps is to establish teams of local volunteer medical and public health professionals who can contribute their skills and expertise throughout the year as well as during times of community need.

Overview
Medical Reserve Corps units are made of locally based, medical and public health volunteers who can assist their communities during emergencies, such as an influenza epidemic, a chemical spill, or an act of terrorism.
Medical Reserve Corps volunteers also offer education and prevention services to improve the public health infrastructure of their neighborhoods and communities.

MRC units are community-based and function as a specialized component of Citizen Corps, a national
network of volunteers dedicated to making sure their families, homes, and communities are safe from terrorism, crime, and disasters of all kinds. Citizen Corps, AmeriCorps, Senior Corps, and the Peace Corps
are all part of the President's USA Freedom Corps, which promotes volunteerism and service throughout
the U.S.

Why was the MRC created?
There was an outpouring of support for the emergency relief efforts after the terrorist attacks on
September 11, 2001. Many Americans asked, "What can I do to help?" Medical and public health
professionals were among those who wanted to volunteer their services, but many were not able to do
so. Using public health and medical volunteers in emergencies requires an organized approach and these individuals were not known to the emergency management system. While they may have had very
necessary skills and knowledge, they could not be used because they were not identified, credentialed or trained in advance.

What is the typical MRC unit?
There is no "typical" MRC unit. Each unit organizes in response to their area's specific needs. A region's
hazard threats, health concerns, and the organization in which the unit is established (health department, faith-based organization, etc.), will dictate what an MRC looks like. With community resources and
partners that span a spectrum from local voluntary organizations to private corporations, the "face" of
each MRC community is unique. However, the goals of the MRC are similar; units work toward bettering
their local area's public health infrastructure and strengthening their response capabilities in the event of
an emergency. The differences can be found in how each community reaches these goals.

Community Care Network Expands Health Fairs into all 12 Black Belt Counties
Working in conjunction with Governor Riley's Black Belt Action Commission and Congressman Artur Davis,
the Community Care Network has announced the expansion of their health fairs into all twelve Black Belt counties. Each of these health fairs is sponsored by the Community Care Network, the Governor's Black
Belt Action Commission, and the Office of Congressman Artur Davis.

Dr. Leon Davis, Founder/President of the Community Care Network said "For the past five years we have
been holding health fairs in Montgomery County, this year we decided to go into all twelve Black Belt counties. These twelve health fairs are one step of a long range plan that CCN is putting into place to
help eliminate health disparities. "We hope to utilize health fairs as a springboard to expand the mobile medicine clinics currently done in Lowndes County into all of the Black Belt counties. We are pleased to be able to be a part of the Governor's Black Belt Action Committee and be in a position to put together county wide health fairs, which we think will help to make people aware of their medical needs."

"The health fairs carried out by the Black Belt Action Commission are truly a step in the right direction
towards remedying healthcare disparities within the Black Belt," said Rep. Artur Davis. "We must continue
to build on this achievement to further develop existing healthcare services and generate new structures
and partnerships in order to provide proper, quality healthcare for all Alabamians."

Kid One Transport and Governor's Black Belt Action Commission to Benefit from a New Study
HALE, PERRY, SUMTER AND MARENGO COUNTIES, AL - The Johnson & Johnson Community Health Care Program which awarded Birmingham-based Kid One Transport System a two-year, $150,000 grant to
expand services into the Black Belt region last May is sending a scholar to Alabama next week. Amy L. Boore, a scholar from the Department of Epidemiology at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, will be visiting the Black Belt and Kid One's office on March 31, 2005. Over a period of two years, Boore will train
key program staff in evaluation methodology to measure the outcomes. Tools to be introduced will include
the use of conceptual frameworks, survey design, and sound program evaluation implementation.