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HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES             H.C.R. NO.            H.D. 1
TWENTIETH LEGISLATURE, 2000                                
STATE OF HAWAII                                            
                                                             
________________________________________________________________
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                     HOUSE  CONCURRENT
                        RESOLUTION


REQUESTING THE DEPARTMENTS OF HEALTH AND EDUCATION TO ASSESS THE
   PREVALENCE OF HEAD LICE AND THE CURRENT USE OF CHEMICAL
   TREATMENT FOR HEAD LICE IN HAWAII'S SCHOOLS.



 1      WHEREAS, chronic head lice, or "uku" infestation, in pre-
 2 school and elementary school-aged children has become an ongoing
 3 public health concern, which currently affects an estimated ten
 4 to twenty million Americans annually; and
 5 
 6      WHEREAS, a head louse is a tiny insect, the size of a sesame
 7 seed, that lays and cements its eggs, or nits, to the shaft of
 8 human hair; and
 9 
10      WHEREAS, head lice do not carry disease but can cause severe
11 itching, scratching, and sometimes infections, and requires a
12 time consuming, systematic cleansing and treatment of not only
13 the infected person, but all other members of that person's
14 family, as well as bedding, clothing, and personal belongings;
15 and
16 
17      WHEREAS, over the past few decades, the head lice problem
18 has been controlled with shampoos or soaps, many of them
19 chemically-based containing pyrethroids; and
20 
21      WHEREAS, despite the use of pyrethroids, the frequency of
22 head lice infestations have recently increased, and even greater
23 numbers of children nationwide have become reinfested within days
24 of treatment; and
25 
26      WHEREAS, repeated treatment and frequent use of these
27 chemical products may have serious health consequences, affecting
28 a young child's developing central nervous system and their
29 future well-being; and
30 
31      WHEREAS, reports from Harvard University, as well as from
32 Israel and the Czech Republic, have documented a resistant strain
33 of head lice that is impervious to pyrethroids; and
34 

 
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 1      WHEREAS, this resistant strain of head lice can be the cause
 2 of added financial burden and stress within the family unit,
 3 creating frustration and helplessness among parents who have
 4 experimented with dangerous home remedies that have caused death
 5 or serious injury to their infected children; and
 6 
 7      WHEREAS, Hawaii is able to generate many locally developed,
 8 all-natural, nontoxic alternative treatments and several high
 9 quality, herbal, medicinal remedies that are highly effective,
10 personal health care products; and
11 
12      WHEREAS, an adequate public education program, coupled with
13 a proactive eradication campaign, is needed in both the
14 Departments of Health (DOH) and Education (DOE); now, therefore,
15 
16      BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the
17 Twentieth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of
18 2000, the Senate concurring, that the DOH and DOE are requested
19 to assess the prevalence of head lice and the current use of
20 chemical treatment for head lice in Hawaii's schools; and
21 
22      BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the DOH and DOE are requested to
23 develop and implement a comprehensive, statewide "Uku Eradication
24 Program"; and
25 
26      BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the DOH and DOE submit a report
27 of their actions pursuant to this request to the Legislature no
28 later than twenty days prior to the convening of the Regular
29 Session of 2001; and
30 
31      BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this
32 Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Director of Health,
33 the Superintendent of Education, and the Chairperson of the Board
34 of Education.