A Detroit News editorial calls on state and federal health officials to expedite programs to reduce the high infant mortality rate among black families. For every 1,000 black children born in suburban Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties, 19 will not survive their first year of life, according to a Detroit News analysis of health records from 1998 to 2002. The comparable figure for whites is five. Wayne State University and the University of Michigan are noted as providing new research and programs that promise to reduce the number of black babies who die in their first year of life. A federal grant and 10-year contracts totaling more than $100 million are supporting national infant mortality studies at both Wayne State and U-M.