February is National Children's Dental Health Month and as the American Dental Association (ADA) kicks it off with its Fifth Annual Give Kids A Smile Day on February 2 at nearly 2,200 locations across the country, the ADA offers advice for parents and caregivers to help children maintain healthy teeth and gums.

The Youth Council of the Epilepsy Foundation convened its first-ever meeting concurrent with the recent meeting of the foundation's board of directors. The focus was to create a strategic action plan for the next two years to cover the foundation's youth programming and how the foundation will reach out to both young people with epilepsy and young people who do not have epilepsy.

Affiliated Computer Services, Inc., a premier provider of business process outsourcing and information technology solutions, announced today that it has been awarded a new five-year, $87.3 million contract by the Florida Healthy Kids Corporation (FHKC) to administer the State's Child Health Insurance Program (CHIP). The contract may be extended for up to five additional years at FHKC's option.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's proposal to provide health coverage to every child in California, including illegal aliens, could leave the state liable for untold billions in unforeseen costs in the future, warns the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR). The conservatively estimated cost of $400 million a year could easily balloon to many times that figure. Costs will grow as the numbers of illegal aliens in California increase and may rise even more dramatically as legal residents of other states take advantage of a federal law that requires that state benefits made available to illegal aliens must be made available to all legal U.S. residents.

The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, one of the world's preeminent children's hospitals, has selected BoardVantage to streamline its board communications. With BoardVantage, Children's Hospital expects to facilitate board interactions both during and between meetings.

Families who cannot access or afford dental care have the opportunity to make sure their children receive check-ups and needed dental treatment in February when more than 1,000 volunteer dentists and other dental professionals donate their time and resources to provide free care. This is the 5th consecutive year the Minnesota Dental Association has coordinated the Give Kids a Smile outreach effort.

CorCell, a Cord Blood America, Inc. (BULLETIN BOARD: CBAI) company), today announced that cord blood collected and stored by one of its private, family customers was used in what is believed to be the first autologous cord blood transplant for childhood leukemia anywhere in the world. Autologous cord blood is that collected from a baby's umbilical cord and for use specifically for that child.

Today, Child magazine announced the highly anticipated results of its 4th exclusive survey to identify the top children's hospitals in the country. Children's Hospital of Michigan is among the top 40 hospitals that will be published in the magazine, placing it among America's best providers of pediatric health care. Children's Hospital of Michigan ranked 27.

Regional-News.com
Cancer is the leading cause of disease-related death among children in the U.S. The numbers of newly diagnosed patients across the major childhood cancers, such as leukemia and lymphoma, continue to escalate. But new research shows that mortality rates are improving and long-term survival rates for childhood cancers are steadily on the rise.

regional-news.com
Children under 12 years of age and teenagers both benefit greatly from contact lens wear and perceive an improvement in quality of life one-week and one-month after changing from eyeglasses to contact lenses according to findings from a multi-site study comparing the two groups. After one-month of contact lens wear, parents report no significant difference in wearing time between children 12 or younger and teens, and investigators note that younger wearers are as adept at insertion and removal of contact lenses as teens.