BILL NUMBER: AB 158	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Ma

                        JANUARY 18, 2007

   An act relating to public health.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 158, as introduced, Ma. Public health.
   Existing law establishes a Legislative Task Force on Diabetes and
Obesity, consisting of specified members, to study the factors
contributing to the high rates of diabetes and obesity in Latinos,
African-Americans, Asian Pacific Islanders, and Native Americans in
this country, and declares that the task force is to prepare a report
containing recommendations regarding ways to reduce the incidence of
those debilitating conditions in these ethnic groups.
   Existing law establishes various public health programs
administered by the State Department of Health Services, with
administration of these programs to be transferred to the State
Department of Public Health on July 1, 2007.
   This bill would declare the intent of the Legislature to enact
legislation that would, among other things, establish a program,
administered by the State Department of Public Health, to provide
education, outreach, counseling, and social services to ethnic
populations that are at high risk of hepatitis and diabetes.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no.
State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
   (a) Asian Pacific Islander Americans make up more than one-half of
the 1.4 million hepatitis B virus (HBV) carriers in the United
States; 1 out of 10 are chronically infected.
   (b) Liver cancer that is primarily caused by HBV is the leading
cause of cancer death among Asian Pacific Islander men living in
California and is the most significant health disparity between Asian
Pacific Islanders and Caucasians.
   (c) Chinese Americans have a five to six times higher risk for
liver cancer caused by HBV than Caucasian Americans.
   (d) Korean Americans have an eight times higher risk for liver
cancer caused by HBV than Caucasian Americans.
   (e) Vietnamese Americans have a 13 times higher risk for liver
cancer caused by HBV than Caucasian Americans.
   (f) African-Americans (10.3 percent) and Native Americans (9.3
percent) living in California have higher rates of diabetes compared
to Caucasians (5.6 percent).
   (g) Hispanic/Latino Americans are 1.7 times more likely to have
diabetes compared to Caucasians.
   (h) Gestational diabetes occurs more frequently among
Hispanic/Latino Americans, African-Americans, and Native Americans.
  SEC. 2.  It is the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation
that would do all of the following:
   (a) Establish a program to provide education, outreach,
counseling, and social services to ethnic populations that are at
high risk of hepatitis and diabetes and to individuals among those
populations suffering from these diseases.
   (b) Utilize existing programs and systems operated by public and
not-for-profit organizations to provide the services described in
subdivision (a).
   (c) Direct the State Department of Public Health to make and
administer grants to the public and not-for-profit organizations from
funds appropriated by the Legislature or donated to the state in
order to provide these services.