HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.C.R. NO.

51

TWENTY-FIFTH LEGISLATURE, 2009

 

STATE OF HAWAII

 

 

 

 

 

HOUSE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

 

 

REQUESTING THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH TO INCREASE EDUCATIONAL EFFORTS TO PREVENT AND ERADICATE CERVICAL CANCER.

 

 

 


     WHEREAS, the dedicated and combined efforts of medical researchers are finding the causes and cures of the many types of cancer that besiege us; and

 

     WHEREAS, scientists have found that cervical and related cancers and genital warts are caused by a virus - the human papilloma virus (HPV); and

 

     WHEREAS, in a few cases, men are susceptible to related cancers caused by HPV’s; and

 

     WHEREAS, HPV is contracted through skin to skin contact and sexual transmission; and

 

     WHEREAS, abnormal cells that lead to cervical cancer can often be identified by Pap tests given during cervical examination and can be confirmed by HPV tests; and

 

     WHEREAS, although 94% of women in Hawaii have had cervical screening, by ramping up educational efforts to encourage all women to get regular examinations, cancers can be diagnosed at earlier stages and successfully treated; and

 

     WHEREAS, cervical examinations are covered by health insurers, HMOs, Medicaid and Medicare, so cost is not a large factor in this preventive measure; and

 

     WHEREAS, a vaccine is now available that is 100% effective in preventing disease from high risk types of HPV that account for 70% of all cervical cancer; and

 

     WHEREAS, a few states now require girls to receive cervical cancer vaccines prior to attending middle school, and the 2008 Legislature passed a resolution requesting the Department of Health to outline the pros and cons of such a program in Hawaii; and

 

     WHEREAS, the Department of Health can ramp up its current efforts to expand education about the causes, cures and prevention of cervical cancer, and to encourage all women to get regular pap and/or HPV tests; now, therefore,

 

     BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-fifth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2009, the Senate concurring, that the Department of Health is requested to expand its educational programs to increase cervical screening and awareness by both men and all women, in particular, and suggest new and innovative measures to better disseminate information in order to prevent, and eventually eradicate, cervical and related cancers - a dreaded disease; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the director of the Department of Health.

 

 

 

 

OFFERED BY:

_____________________________

 

 

Report Title: 

Cervical cancer; education and eradication