Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT), a senior member of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions and Chairman of its Subcommittee on Children and Families, praised last night’s Senate passage of a Resolution he authored to designate the third week of April as “National Shaken Baby Syndrome Awareness Week.”  Dodd was joined in introducing the Resolution by Senator Lamar Alexander (R-TN), the Ranking Member of the HELP Subcommittee on Children and Families. 

“Shaken Baby Syndrome is a tragedy that occurs in our country every day, resulting in severe injury, lifelong disability and even death for hundreds of children each year,” said Dodd. “Shaken Baby Syndrome Awareness Week is one step the Senate can take each year to raise public awareness of one of the most devastating forms of child abuse in this country.”

Last Congress, Dodd introduced the Shaken Baby Syndrome Prevention Act of 2007. This initiative provides for the creation of a public health campaign, including the development of a National Action Plan to identify effective, evidence-based strategies for prevention and awareness of Shaken Baby Syndrome, and establishment of a cross-disciplinary advisory council to help coordinate national efforts. Dodd plans to reintroduce this legislation soon, with the goal of reducing the number of children injured or killed by abusive head trauma, and ultimately eliminate Shaken Baby Syndrome.

In recognition of the need to eliminate child abuse and to raise awareness about the issue, the month of April has been designated “National Child Abuse Prevention Month,” an annual tradition that was initiated in 1979 by former President Jimmy Carter.

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