THE SENATE

S.C.R. NO.

109

TWENTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2005

S.D. 1

STATE OF HAWAII

 
   


SENATE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

 

REQUESTING THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH TO make educational materials available, in written and electronic form, on the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of hepatitis C to physicians, other health care providers, veterans, and other persons at high risk for hepatitis C.

 

WHEREAS, hepatitis C is a disease of the liver caused by the hepatitis C virus and is spread by contact with the blood of an infected person; and

WHEREAS, at risk for hepatitis C is any person who:

(1) Received blood from a donor who later tested positive for hepatitis C;

(2) Has ever injected illegal drugs, even if it was many years ago;

(3) Received a blood transfusion or solid organ transplant before July 1992;

(4) Was a recipient of clotting factors made before 1987;

(5) Has ever been on long-term kidney dialysis;

(6) Has evidence of liver disease such as, for example, abnormal liver enzyme levels;

(7) Is a health care worker who has been exposed to hepatitis C-positive blood on the job by, for example, needle sticks or splashes to the eye; and

(8) Is a child born to a woman testing positive for hepatitis C; and

WHEREAS, of every one hundred persons infected with the hepatitis C virus, about:

(1) Fifty-five to eighty-five persons might develop long-term infection;

(2) Seventy persons might develop chronic liver disease;

(3) Five to twenty persons might develop cirrhosis over a period of twenty to thirty years; and

(4) One to five persons might die from the consequences of long-term infection, for example, liver cancer or cirrhosis; and

WHEREAS, health care workers should always follow routine barrier precautions and safely handle needles and other sharp objects in addition to getting vaccinated against hepatitis B; and

WHEREAS, this information may not be generally known or widely circulated, even among health care workers; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Twenty-third Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2005, the House of Representatives concurring, that the Department of Health is requested to make educational materials available, in written and electronic form, on the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of hepatitis C to physicians, other health care providers, veterans, and other persons at high risk for hepatitis C; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the materials include information and recommendations of the Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and other entities having expertise in hepatitis C, including the American Liver Foundation and the Department of Veteran Affairs; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Health is requested to coordinate a Hepatitis C Education Work Group charged with implementation of the educational goals and objectives of the Hawai`i Hepatitis C Strategic Plan to raise the awareness and the knowledge of health care providers, those

at-risk, and the general population regarding hepatitis C; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Hepatitis C Education Work Group include:

(1) Representatives of organizations that represent physicians, nurses, and other health care providers;

(2) Representatives from the Department of Veterans Affairs;

(3) Participants from the media;

(4) Representatives from the Alcohol and Drug Abuse Division, Adult Mental Health Division, Family Health Services Division, Communicable Disease Division and Disease Outbreak, and Control Division of the Department of Health; and

(5) Community stakeholders including people living with hepatitis C and the American Liver Foundation; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Health is requested to submit a report on the status of the implementation of this measure to the Legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2006; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Director of Health, the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Chair of the Board of Directors of the American Liver Foundation.

Report Title:

Hepatitis C; DOH educational materials; Veterans and Others