By: O. Marion Burton, MD, FAAP, President, American Academy of Pediatrics
The Budget Control Act of 2011 (Public Law 112-25), passed by Congress in August to raise the national $14.3 debt ceiling through 2012, called for the establishment of a 12-member, bipartisan Congressional Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction (JSC) to address the country’s long-term spending.
As outlined in the law, the JSC will recommend more than $1.2 trillion in deficit reduction by Nov. 23. Cuts could come from a variety of sources, including Medicaid and Affordable Care Act funding.
In addition to establishing the JSC, the Budget Control Act of 2011 authorizes $900 billion in spending cuts over ten years, which are in the process of being determined by Congressional appropriations committees. These cuts impact many programs of importance to children, including Children’s Hospital Graduate Medical Education and Title V Maternal and Child Health Block Grants.
In this unusual political and fiscal environment, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and many of our partners are pursuing creative ways to communicate the importance of investing in our children from the ground up.
As part of this effort, throughout the month of October, the AAP, using our Twitter handle @AmerAcadPeds, will tweet one child health fact per day with the hashtag #PutKids1st.
The goal is to start a conversation about kids, in part by sharing compelling child health data. I urge you to join us online by tweeting your own child health facts using the #PutKids1st hashtag, or by re-tweeting AAP, @AmerAcadPeds.
The AAP is also emailing each fact to all health staff on Capitol Hill, and posting them to the AAP Department of Federal Affairs Facebook page as well.
Will social media advocacy fix all of the problems on Capitol Hill? Probably not. But as child health advocates, we understand the value of prevention programs in contributing to strong health across a lifespan; we recognize the need to strengthen the pediatric workforce in order to reach our nation’s most vulnerable children; we are alarmed by the child poverty rates in this country and are compelled to take action. What we need now is momentum behind us. Social media platforms provide millions of microphones to amplify the same resounding message: #PutKids1st.
Please join the AAP in our effort to #PutKids1st on Twitter and Facebook today!
