BILL ANALYSIS
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THIRD READING
Bill No: ACR 35
Author: Blakeslee (R), et al
Amended: 4/20/09 in Assembly
Vote: 21
WITHOUT REFERENCE TO COMMITTEE OR FILE
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : Read and adopted, 4/20/09
SUBJECT : Viral Hepatitis Awareness Day
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This resolution declares May 19, 2009, to be
Viral Hepatitis Awareness Day in California.
ANALYSIS :
Resolution findings:
1.Over 520 million people worldwide are chronically
infected with viral hepatitis. Of those, over five
million people in the United States are infected with
hepatitis C and 1.5 million with hepatitis B.
2.The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
estimate that approximately 30,000 new cases of
hepatitis C infection and 30,000 new cases of hepatitis
B infection occur annually in the United States, with
15,000 Americans dying of viral hepatitis each year.
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3.Hepatitis can lead to liver disease, cirrhosis, liver
cancer, and liver failure. Liver cancer fro hepatitis B
and C kills more people in California than anywhere else
in the country.
4.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.
5.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.
6.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.
7.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.
8.The cost of prevention can be as low as $0 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.
9.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 $122.5 million during the lifetime of
a single age group of children.
10.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
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viral infection to individuals and to our community,
financially as well as physically and emotionally.
11.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.
This resolution declares May 19, 2009, to be Viral
Hepatitis Awareness Day in California.
FISCAL EFFECT : Fiscal Com.: No
CTW:do 4/29/09 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: NONE RECEIVED
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