BILL NUMBER: ACR 35	CHAPTERED
	BILL TEXT

	RESOLUTION CHAPTER  19
	FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE  MAY 7, 2009
	ADOPTED IN SENATE  MAY 6, 2009
	ADOPTED IN ASSEMBLY  APRIL 20, 2009
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  APRIL 20, 2009
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  MARCH 26, 2009

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Blakeslee
   (Coauthors: Assembly Members Block, Gilmore, Jeffries, Ma,
Monning, Nestande, Niello, Price, Adams, Ammiano, Anderson, Arambula,
Bass, Beall, Bill Berryhill, Tom Berryhill, Blumenfield, Brownley,
Caballero, Carter, Conway, Cook, Coto, Davis, De La Torre, De Leon,
DeVore, Duvall, Emmerson, Eng, Evans, Feuer, Fletcher, Fong, Fuller,
Gaines, Galgiani, Garrick, Hagman, Harkey, Hayashi, Hernandez, Hill,
Huber, Huffman, Jones, Knight, Krekorian, Lieu, Logue, Bonnie
Lowenthal, Mendoza, Miller, Nava, Nielsen, John A. Perez, V. Manuel
Perez, Portantino, Ruskin, Salas, Saldana, Silva, Smyth, Solorio,
Audra Strickland, Swanson, Torlakson, Torres, Torrico, Tran,
Villines, and Yamada)
   (Coauthors: Senators Cox, DeSaulnier, and Maldonado)

                        FEBRUARY 25, 2009

   Relative to Viral Hepatitis Awareness Day.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   ACR 35, Blakeslee. Viral Hepatitis Awareness Day.
   This measure would declare May 19, 2009, to be Viral Hepatitis
Awareness Day in California.



   WHEREAS, Over 520 million people worldwide are chronically
infected with viral hepatitis. Of those, over 5 million people in the
United States are infected with hepatitis C and 1.5 million with
hepatitis B; and
   WHEREAS, The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
estimate that approximately 30,000 new cases of hepatitis C infection
and 60,000 new cases of hepatitis B infection occur annually in the
United States, with 15,000 Americans dying of viral hepatitis each
year; and
   WHEREAS, Hepatitis can lead to liver disease, cirrhosis, liver
cancer, and liver failure. Liver cancer from hepatitis B and C kills
more people in California than anywhere else in the country; and
   WHEREAS, Persons infected with the hepatitis virus are often
unaware of their status for as long as 10 to 20 years and are
unknowingly vectors for continued spread of the virus; and
   WHEREAS, A study published in the January 6, 2009, issue of the
journal Annals of Internal Medicine concluded that health care
personnel in settings outside hospitals failed to follow basic
infection control practices and exposed more than 60,000 patients in
the United States to hepatitis B and C; and
   WHEREAS, Although prevention of viral hepatitis is possible, and
some treatments are available, many persons at risk or affected by
these conditions are neither tested nor treated due to lack of
knowledge or access to care; and
   WHEREAS, Hepatitis A and B can be prevented with vaccinations and
therapies for hepatitis C have improved so that 40 percent to 80
percent of treated patients attain sustained viral elimination; and
   WHEREAS, The cost of prevention can be as low as $60 for
vaccination for hepatitis B and even less for educational efforts to
prevent all types of viral hepatitis, as opposed to a cost of
$750,000 for liver transplantation plus an additional $70,000 per
year to prevent organ rejection; and
   WHEREAS, Estimates of the annual costs of hepatitis A in the
United States have ranged from $300 million to $488.8 million in 1997
dollars. A recent analysis estimated economic costs of $133.5
million during the lifetime of a single age group of children; 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; and
   WHEREAS, May 19, 2009, will be the fifth annual World Hepatitis
Awareness Day, a global day of awareness sponsored by the World
Hepatitis Alliance. The theme, "Am I Number 12?" highlights the fact
that one in 12 people, globally, suffer from hepatitis and what
individual governments can do to prevent this; now, therefore, be it
   Resolved by the Assembly of the State of California, the Senate
thereof concurring, That the Legislature of the State of California
declares May 19, 2009, to be Viral Hepatitis Awareness Day in
California; and be it further
   Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit sufficient
copies of this resolution to the author for distribution.