PRESS RELEASE

 From the Office of the Commissioner of Health, Dr. Gale R. Burstein 

Date November 17, 2016                               

CONTACT: Mary C. St. Mary/Mary.StMary@Erie.Gov

Phone: 716.858.4941/ Mobile: 716.253.3925

  HOPE Buffalo Initiative Launched

Goal to Reduce Teen Pregnancy Rates by 30% by 2020

ERIE COUNTY, NY— At a kickoff event today, the HOPE Buffalo initiative was announced to the community and media. This collaborative project, involving a diverse coalition of Erie County stakeholders, has a primary goal to reduce the rate of teen pregnancy in select Erie County zip codes (14201, 14204, 14206, 14207, 14208, 14209, 142011, 14213, and 14215) by 30% by the year 2020.

In the target zip code areas, the average teen birth rate in 2012 was 61.3 per 1,000 females between the ages of 15 and 19. This is more than 3 times greater than New York State’s (excluding New York City) average of 18.5 per 1,000 and the 2013 national teen birth rate of 26.5 per 1,000 females.

HOPE Buffalo will:     

• Advocate for the prevention of teen pregnancy, sexually transmitted infections and HIV/AIDS among Buffalo's youth
• Promote equitable access to comprehensive sexuality education and reproductive health
• Empower youth to make informed decisions about their health 

The community coalition of organizations supporting HOPE Buffalo will:

• Ensure that teens have access to both health education and healthcare providers
• Respect teens’ right to make their own decisions and set their own goals   
• Help teens achieve their goals

HOPE Buffalo is supported by a grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Adolescent Health (“OAH”) to the Erie County Department of Health and CAI (Cicatelli Associates Inc.) 

“I am tremendously excited about this new outreach effort to provide necessary information to Buffalo’s youth to help them make informed decisions so they can achieve their goals,” said Dr. Gale Burstein, Commissioner, Erie County Department of Health. “With involvement from our strong community partners and financial support from the Office of Adolescent Health, we believe we can make a measurable impact in the lives of these teens. We are working to ensure that our youth have access to health education and healthcare providers, which will improve their health and build a healthy future for our community.”

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