RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, Hawaii is a major crossroads through which significant amounts of passenger and cargo traffic from all corners of the globe transit, which poses serious threats to the islands' quality of life, environment, health, and economic well-being; and

WHEREAS, although Hawaii is an insular state geographically remote from the major continents, protection against various epidemics by virtue of our Pacific location is no longer guaranteed in these days of modern jet travel, where highly infectious and dangerous diseases can be as close as a six-hour plane ride; and

WHEREAS, although the Department of Health (DOH) has a Communicable Disease Division, insufficient emphasis has been placed on preventive measures against the epidemic spread of various diseases, such as the West Nile virus, dengue fever, and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) in Hawaii, especially at the most common points of entry into the State; and

WHEREAS, DOH's Communicable Disease Division and Hawaii's U.S. Public Health office need to intensify its efforts to take adequate preventive measures to address, contain, and eliminate threats of the introduction of various diseases that may escalate into epidemic proportions in Hawaii; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-second Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2003, the Senate concurring, that DOH and Hawaii's U.S. Public Health office are requested to further implement an epidemic prevention program to prevent the potential entry of communicable disease vectors that may cause an epidemic in Hawaii; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Director of Health is requested to report on the activities of the epidemic prevention program annually as part of DOH's annual report; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that due to fiscal cuts over previous years, Hawaii's U.S. Public Health office has been found to be inadequately funded and understaffed and respectfully requests Congress to properly fund the Hawaii office to carry out preventive measures, particularly because Honolulu is considered a gateway city; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Director of Health, Director of Transportation, U.S. Public Health Office, and Hawaii's Congressional Delegation.

Report Title:

Epidemic Prevention Program; Department of Health