HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.C.R. NO.	59
THIRTY-FIRST LEGISLATURE, 2021
STATE OF HAWAII

HOUSE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

 

 

recognizing and supporting ongoing collaborative efforts to implement a statewide strategy to eliminate viral hepatitis types a, b, and c in hawaii.

 

 

 

        WHEREAS, viral hepatitis is an inflammation of the liver caused by a viral infection; and

 

        WHEREAS, the most common forms of viral hepatitis in the United States are hepatitis types A, B, and C; and

 

        WHEREAS, about sixty-three thousand people in Hawaii are living with viral hepatitis types B or C, and many persons may be unaware that they are infected; and

 

        WHEREAS, viral hepatitis types B and C have been linked to cirrhosis and liver cancer, diseases that affect the State's residents at disproportionately high rates; and

 

        WHEREAS, communities at higher risk for developing viral hepatitis include people who are indigenous, African American, incarcerated, veterans, experiencing homelessness, pregnant, or members of the LGBTQ+ community; and

 

        WHEREAS, the State is currently engaged in proactive measures to help eliminate viral hepatitis in underserved and at-risk communities by expanding Med-QUEST to cover hepatitis C medications; offering syringe service programs to reduce the spread of hepatitis C among people who use injectable drugs; identifying and supporting foreign-born women and families at high risk of contracting hepatitis B; and ensuring that homeless communities are immunized against hepatitis A; and

 

        WHEREAS, state agencies and private organizations are also helping to reduce and eliminate virial hepatitis types A, B, and C by offering vaccines, testing, education, training programs, and care services; and

 

        WHEREAS, on July 28, 2020, the United States Senators for Hawaii, Lieutenant Governor, and Harm Reduction Services Branch of the Department of Health issued "Hep Free 2030" a ten-year statewide strategy to help eliminate viral hepatitis types A, B, and C in Hawaii; and

 

        WHEREAS, the "Hep Free 2030" strategy emphasized the need to integrate culturally appropriate services with a comprehensive system of care and to promote the core values of harm reduction, social justice, intersectionality, and aloha; and

 

        WHEREAS, continued coordination and ongoing efforts are needed to further implement the statewide strategy to eliminate viral hepatitis types A, B, and C in Hawaii; now, therefore,

 

        BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Thirty-first Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2021, the Senate concurring, that the Legislature recognizes and supports ongoing collaborative efforts by state agencies and private organizations to implement the "Hep Free 2030" statewide strategy to eliminate viral hepatitis types A, B, and C in Hawaii; and

 

        BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the House Committee on Health, Human Services, and Homelessness and the Senate Committee on Health are requested to convene a joint informational briefing after the completion of the Regular Session of 2021 and before the commencement of the Regular Session of 2022 to assess the progress and status of the "Hep Free 2030" statewide strategy implementation; and

 

        BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the United States Senators for Hawaii; Governor; Lieutenant Governor; Chair of the House Committee on Health, Human Services, and Homelessness; Chair of the Senate Committee on Health; Director of Health; Branch Chief of the Harm Reduction Services Branch of the Department of Health; Executive Director of the Hawaii Health and Harm Reduction Center; and Executive Director of Hep Free Hawaii.

 

 

 

	OFFERED BY:	_____________________________

Report Title:

Department of Health; Viral Hepatitis; Statewide Strategy