INFANT DEATH RATE DROPS WHILE RACE GAP WORSENS

ATLANTA—The U.S. infant mortality rate dropped to a record low, but black babies died at more than twice the rate of whites, and the gap is growing, health officials reported Thursday. For every 1,000 births in 1990, 9.2 babies died before age 1, down from 9.8 in 1989, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said. It credited most of the drop to a new way of treating the underdeveloped lungs that kill thousands of premature and underweight babies. The rate in 1990, the most recent year for which data are available, propelled the United States up two notches—to 20th place—in UNICEF's ranking of infant mortality in 23 developed countries. Japan has the world's best rate, 5 per 1,000. Despite the new lung treatment, 38,351 babies died in 1990, down from 39,655 in 1989. The District of Columbia had by far the deadliest rate, 20.7. Vermont had the lowest rate, 5.4. The mortality rate for black infants was 18, compared with 7.6 for whites, and the disparity is growing, the CDC said. Low birthweight was the leading killer of black babies, while birth defects claimed more white babies. Vt. is best Infant mortality rates in 1990, from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Numbers are per 1,000 live births: • Connecticut, 7.9 • Maine, 6.2 • Massachusetts, 7.0 • New Hampshire, 7.1 • New York, 9.6 • Rhode Island, 8.1 • Vermont, 5.4, the nation's lowest rate • United States, 9.2