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P.L. 1997, Joint Resolution No. 9, approved January 12, 1998

Senate Joint Resolution No. 58

A Joint Resolution designating the month of March in each year as "Hepatitis C Awareness Month."

Whereas, The hepatitis C virus is a largely symptomless, blood-borne virus which slowly attacks the liver and causes such liver diseases as cirrhosis and cancer of the liver; and

Whereas, Over four million Americans are currently infected with chronic viral hepatitis C, with 150,000 new cases of infection occurring each year in the United States; and

Whereas, Some 10,000 persons die each year due to hepatitis C, which is the leading cause of liver transplantation in the United States and thereby factors into the shortage of healthy organs available for transplantation; and

Whereas, The death rate from hepatitis C in the United States will soon exceed that from HIV, the virus which is the probable causative agent of AIDS; and

Whereas, Unwitting carriers of the hepatitis C virus may unintentionally endanger themselves and infect others through otherwise harmless behaviors; and

Whereas, Treatment of the hepatitis C virus is most efficacious if the virus is caught early before the onset of liver disease; and

Whereas, It is estimated that approximately 144,000 New Jersey residents are infected with the hepatitis C virus; however, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention does not require the State to report chronic hepatitis C infection, and, therefore, the true extent of hepatitis C infection in New Jersey is unknown; and

Whereas, The National Institutes of Health Consensus Conference on Hepatitis C recognized the emerging public health issue of hepatitis C and recommended an increased effort to promote education and public awareness by the public health community; and

Whereas, The United States Public Health Service Blood Advisory Committee has recognized the public health consequences of undiagnosed hepatitis C infection and recommended that a massive public health campaign be undertaken to notify all recipients of blood transfusions prior to 1992 to obtain a test for hepatitis C; and

Whereas, The Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists has recommended that a federal pilot project be made available to state health departments for state and county surveillance activities to identify and investigate cases of acute and chronic hepatitis C and for the development of state-based educational programs including the dissemination of materials on identification, reporting and counseling to public health and health care professionals and the general public, including high-risk groups; and

Whereas, In the absence of a vaccine for this serious epidemic illness, emphasis must be placed on other means of disease prevention such as research, education, screening - especially targeted screening of high-risk New Jersey residents, and treatment; now, therefore,

    Be It Resolved by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:

    1. The month of March in each year is designated as "Hepatitis C Awareness Month" in the State of New Jersey.

    2. The Department of Health and Senior Citizens and all other public and private entities entrusted with the health of the citizens of this State are urged to determine the prevalence of hepatitis C in the general population and to implement education programs for the general public and health care professionals in the prevalence, prevention, screening - especially targeted screening of high-risk New Jersey residents, and treatment of this disease.

    3. This joint resolution shall take effect immediately.

STATEMENT

    This joint resolution designates the month of March in each year as "Hepatitis C Awareness Month" in the State of New Jersey. The joint resolution also urges the Department of Health and Senior Citizens and all other public and private entities entrusted with the health of the citizens of New Jersey to determine the prevalence of hepatitis C in the general population and to implement education programs for the general public and health care professionals in the prevalence, prevention, screening - especially targeted screening of high-risk New Jersey residents, and treatment of this disease.

Designates March as "Hepatitis C Awareness Month."