RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, tooth decay is the most common chronic childhood disease, affecting fifty per cent of all first graders and eighty per cent of all seventeen-year-olds in America, according to Oral Health America, an independent non-profit corporation; and

WHEREAS, dental disease can threaten a child’s health, well-being, and achievement, as children with oral health problems can have difficulty eating and sleeping, and paying attention in school; and

WHEREAS, researchers are exploring links between adult oral disease and diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and pre-term, low birth weight babies; and

WHEREAS, good oral health is a major contributor to good overall health; and

WHEREAS, in the present economic climate, every state department must do its utmost to maximize its resources and the services it provides; and

WHEREAS, it is important that Department of Health's Dental Health Division meet its mandate of fostering the development and expansion of dental health services to the people of the State; and

WHEREAS, the Dental Health Division has not fully addressed the needs of underserved populations and geographic locations, and a management audit is needed to determine why this has happened and how to rectify it in the future using existing resources; 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 the Auditor is requested to perform a management audit of the Dental Health Division of the Department of Health; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Auditor is requested to present any findings and recommendations to the Legislature at least twenty days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2004; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Auditor, the Director of Health, and the Chief of the Dental Health Division.

Report Title:

Dental health division, management audit