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Shocking statistic

It was a stunning statement: The rate of maternal deathsamong black women in Chicago is higher than that in some Third Worldcountries. Locally, the rate is 31.8 maternal deaths - deaths duringpregnancy or up to 42 days after the end of pregnancy - for every100,000 births. In Shanghai, China, the rate is 30.

The statistic is shocking, but not surprising. Chicago has longsuffered an outrageous infant-death rate, especially among blacks.Deaths of both mother and child stem from the inadequate medical careand unhealthy living that tend to accompany poverty.

Fortunately, Chicago's infant death rate appears to have peaked.And a statewide initiative launched in January by the IllinoisDepartment of Public Health should accelerate the decline. In anattempt to bring the state's infant death rate down to 9 by 1990 -from the current 12 - the state is funneling an extra $35 millionover 18 months into a wide variety of programs that can assist needy pregnant women.

Equally important, the state tapped non-profit community groupsto find pregnant women and help them get all the services they need.Regular medical checkups, for example, are insufficient if the motherisn't eating properly. And a community group is much more likelythan a state agency to know how to reach women and win theircooperation.

The new health clinics at DuSable and Orr high schools alsoshould help. During the DuSable clinic's first year of operation,only one of nine girls who gave birth under its supervision had alow-weight child, and she had twins.

We continue to be disturbed, however, that those clinics shoulddistribute free birth-control devices on school premises.

Public schools transmit values. They should not appear tocondone activity that society considers either immoral or unhealthyfor young people. And premarital sex is one such activity. Fire Dept. sets the tone

Fire Commissioner Louis T. Galante moved with admirable dispatchto set the example and tone for testing for illegal-drug use amongthe Fire Department's 5,100 employees.

In springing surprise tests on 66 top aides and announcingstepped-up testing for firefighters, Galante complied with the spiritof Mayor Washington's expressed concerns over possible drug abuse bythe city's public-safety officers. Galante acted at a time of newlyheightened public consciousness about the scope of the nation's drugproblem.

Galante might have achieved the same purpose by announcing aprogram of periodic drug testing; in effect, that's what he has donefor the rank and file. But we aren't going to second-guess the wayhe chose to implement his tests. We support the action withoutknowing the results of the first round of tests and with fullappreciation of the civil liberties questions at stake.

On the latter, we hasten to agree with Mayor Washington andothers in positions of responsibility who believe public safety takespriority when it conflicts with any privacy rights of public workers.It is not as if employees were being forced to give evidence againstthemselves in a criminal proceeding. These drug tests are not for the purpose of ferreting out drug abusers for prosecution, but forprotecting the public and simultaneously identifying workers in needof the department's drug rehabilitation program.

The city, state and country are on the threshold of a new erabringing certain individual rights into collision with societalwelfare. This type of conflict as it relates to drunken driving wasresolved 20 years ago. Civil libertarians embraced a new legaldoctrine under which an individual, in applying for the privilege ofdriving a car, is presumed to give implied consent to be tested forblood alcohol, or to lose his license.

A similar doctrine should evolve with regard to the drugproblem. Individuals applying for positions in which their judgmentmust not be impaired - say, an airline pilot, a police officer, afirefighter or a bus driver - should be presumed to have waivedcertain privacy rights. A drug abuser in certain occupationsjeopardizes more lives than his own.

Meanwhile, Fire Chief Galante should pay no attention to thosewho deride the way he chose to dramatize his drug-testing program.The public discussion he generated sets the stage neatly for MayorWashington to announce his own drug-fighting program Thursday. Asbesto no laughing matter

After reading about the Astor Street couple who moved into ahotel for fear of asbestos contamination of their apartment building,our first thought was: Are they crazy? And we don't mean the couple.We mean the workmen who, with no protective clothing, reportedlycreated a dust cloud in the basement as they tore out pipes insulatedwith asbestos.

According to tenant George Breyer, the workmen figured the whiteparticles were asbestos but didn't much care. "They laughed,"reported Breyer. "They said they've been doing it for years."

For their sake, we hope it hasn't been many years.

Here's what the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission and theU.S. Environmental Protection Agency have to say about inhaledasbestos fibers: "Asbestos has been shown to cause cancer of the lungand stomach. There is no level of exposure to asbestos fibers thatexperts can assure is completely safe."

Asbestos is a stealthy killer. Unlike cancer-causingcigarettes, it carries no warnings. And the diseases it implants cantake more than 15 years to erupt. Given human nature, an "it can'thappen to me" disregard for its dangers is understandable.

The Breyers' landlord did pledge to hire a new contractor, onequalified for the removal work. But this decision came only afterBreyer and his wife called police and the city's Consumer AffairsDepartment.

And that makes us wonder how many homeowners and landlords areunknowingly or recklessly endangering lives. The Breyers had theknowledge, know-how and money to protect themselves. We fear theyare in the minority.

Anyone remodeling a pre-1978 home would be well advised to get acopy of "Asbestos in the Home." It can be obtained by writing theU.S. Environmental Protection Agency's public affairs office,asbestos coordinator, at 230 S. Dearborn, Chicago, Ill. 60604.