California Legislature—2015–16 Regular Session

Assembly Concurrent Resolution No. 175

Introduced by Assembly Members Achadjian and Gipson

April 27, 2016

Assembly Concurrent Resolution No. 175—Relative to Viral Hepatitis Awareness Day.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

ACR 175, as introduced, Achadjian. Viral Hepatitis Awareness Day.

This measure would proclaim May 19, 2016, as Viral Hepatitis Awareness Day in California.

Fiscal committee: no.

WHEREAS, Liver cancer and liver disease related to hepatitis
B and C are two of the leading killers in California; and

WHEREAS, Hepatitis C is the most prevalent bloodborne
disease in the United States and in California; and

WHEREAS, Early detection of hepatitis B and C infections
promotes effective management or treatment of these infections,
preventing disability, loss of productivity and income, and allowing
people to live full, satisfying, and productive lives; and

WHEREAS, An undetected and untreated hepatitis B or C
infection can lead to disability or death; and

WHEREAS, The majority of the estimated 750,000 Californians
with chronic hepatitis C infection do not know they are infected,
and are therefore at high risk of severe liver disease, liver cancer,
or liver failure; and

WHEREAS, The majority of the estimated 350,000 California
residents with hepatitis B infection do not know they are infected,
and are therefore at high risk of severe liver disease, liver cancer,
or liver failure; and

WHEREAS, Untreated hepatitis B and C infections are the
leading causes of liver failure requiring liver transplant; and

WHEREAS, The federal Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention released updated guidelines calling for baby boomers
- everyone born between 1945 and 1965 - to receive a one-time
hepatitis C test, which would save over 100,000 lives; and

WHEREAS, In 2013, the United States Preventive Services
Task Force (USPSTF) issued a Grade B rating for screening for
hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection in persons at high risk for
infection and adults born between 1945 and 1965; and

WHEREAS, Baby boomers make up 30 percent of California’s
adult population, and African American baby boomers are twice
as likely to have hepatitis C as other baby boomers; and

WHEREAS, In 2009, the USPSTF issued a Grade A rating for
screening pregnant women for the hepatitis B virus (HBV)
infection during their first prenatal visit; and

WHEREAS, In 2014, the USPSTF issued a Grade B rating for
screening people born in countries where hepatitis B is common,
United States-born people who were not vaccinated against
hepatitis B when they were babies and whose parents come from
countries where hepatitis B is common, and other people at risk
for hepatitis B; and

WHEREAS, There is a vaccine for the prevention of hepatitis
B - the first proven, low-cost vaccination against any form of
cancer made available to Americans; and

WHEREAS, Hepatitis B is most prevalent among people of
Asian and Pacific Islander descent, and one-third of Americans of
Asian and Pacific Islander descent live in California; and

WHEREAS, Hepatitis B-related and hepatitis C-related
hospitalization charges totaled $2.3 billion in 2010 in California,
mostly paid for by tax-supported public health insurers; and

WHEREAS, New medications can cure hepatitis C in over 90
percent of people who are linked to and retained in care and
treatment; and

WHEREAS, Hepatitis B can be treated effectively with proper
medical management and may be curable in the near future; and

WHEREAS, The Legislature will continue to work to increase
the affordability of, and access to, care, treatment, and cures for
hepatitis; and

WHEREAS, Hepatitis awareness education campaigns and
accessible screening for hepatitis B and C, along with appropriate
treatment, can reduce the damage from hepatitis B and C viral
infection to individuals and to our community, financially, as well
as physically and emotionally; now, therefore, be it

Resolved by the Assembly of the State of California, the Senate
thereof concurring, That the Legislature hereby proclaims May
19, 2016, as Viral Hepatitis Awareness Day; and be it further

Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit copies
of this resolution to the author for appropriate distribution.