(ST. LOUIS, AP) — A new project aims to address high infant mortality rates in sections of St. Louis.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports (http://bit.ly/1LbT3mO) that in the city’s Hyde Park neighborhood, 24 infants died between 2009 and 2012, which is a rate nearly four times the national average. High infant mortality is also a problem in sections of northern St. Louis County where the rates are twice the national average.

Infant mortality rates include children who die from birth through age 1. The average infant mortality rate in the United States is 6 deaths per 1,000 births.

A program sponsored by an initiative called Flourish St. Louis includes reaching out to families in affected neighborhoods and holding town hall meetings on the issue.

The outreach work’s funded by the Missouri Foundation for Health.

___

Information from: St. Louis Post-Dispatch, http://www.stltoday.com