HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.C.R. NO.

164

TWENTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2005

 

STATE OF HAWAII

 
   


HOUSE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

 

requesting the women's caucus of the hawaii state legislature to form action groups to disseminate information focusing on the elimination of cervical cancer in the state.

 

WHEREAS, according to federal government statistics, cervical cancer is the third most common gynecological cancer among American women, with approximately twelve thousand two hundred new cases diagnosed annually, of which four thousand one hundred result in death; and

WHEREAS, cervical cancer is highly preventable and is the only cancer with one known precursor and cause -- the human papillomavirus; and

WHEREAS, regular and accurate papanicolaou and human papillomavirus screenings, have helped reduce cervical cancer death rates, but women are still dying because advanced medical techniques and evaluative procedures are underutilized; and

WHEREAS, cervical cancer cases in the United States are generally attributed to a lack of education, a lack of accessibility to regular cervical cancer screening, and a lack of screening accuracy; and

WHEREAS, experience shows that increasing cervical cancer education and awareness among women, especially underserved women within the State, significantly reduces mortality rates; and

WHEREAS, approximately half of all cervical cancer cases are in women who have never been screened, and ten per cent of cases are in women who have not been screened in the last five years; and

WHEREAS, in Hawaii the groups with the lowest percentage of early diagnosis for cervical cancer are Filipino (thirty-nine per cent), Chinese (forty per cent), and Native Hawaiian (fifty-seven per cent); and

WHEREAS, new screening technologies, including the Food and Drug Administration-approved testing for human papillomavirus, offer new opportunities to finally eliminate this potentially deadly disease through early identification of women at increased risk; and

WHEREAS, the Legislature recognizes that through universal education, screening, and early detection, women can lower their likelihood of developing cervical cancer, and can be successfully treated after it develops to virtually eliminate the cancer; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-third Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2005, the Senate concurring, that the members of the Women's Caucus, who are concerned about increasing information about the understanding of cervical cancer and wish to support the mission of the Department of Health, Office of Comprehensive Cancer Control, are requested to form action groups to disseminate information focusing on the elimination of cervical cancer in Hawaii within the next ten years; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Academy of College Gynecologists, the Department of Health, the Office of Comprehensive Cancer Control, and the Hawaii Comprehensive Cancer Control Coalition, are requested to provide the appropriate information to the Women's Caucus to disseminate to the community; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Director of Health, the Hawaii Comprehensive Cancer Coalition, the Hawaii Medical Association, and the Women's Caucus of the Hawaii State Legislature.

 

 

 

OFFERED BY:

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Report Title:

Women's Caucus; Cervical Cancer