STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1716
Honolulu, Hawaii
RE: H.C.R. No. 59
H.D. 1
Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi
President of the Senate
Thirty-First State Legislature
Regular Session of 2021
State of Hawaii
Sir:
Your Committee on Health, to which was referred H.C.R. No. 59, H.D. 1, entitled:
"HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION RECOGNIZING AND SUPPORTING ONGOING COLLABORATIVE EFFORTS TO IMPLEMENT A STATEWIDE STRATEGY TO ELIMINATE VIRAL HEPATITIS TYPES A, B, AND C IN HAWAII,"
begs leave to report as follows:
The purpose and intent of this measure is to recognize and support ongoing efforts by state agencies and private organizations to implement the "Hep Free 2030" statewide strategy to eliminate viral hepatitis types A, B, and C in Hawaii.
Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Health, Hawai‘i Health & Harm Reduction Center, Hep Free Hawai‘i, Hawaii Island HIV/AIDS Foundation, Hawai‘i Public Health Association, and twenty individuals. Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from one individual.
Your Committee finds
that approximately
sixty-three thousand people in Hawaii are living with viral hepatitis types B
or C, and many persons may be unaware that they are infected. On July 28, 2020, the United States Senators
for Hawaii, Lieutenant Governor, and the Harm Reduction Services Branch of the
Department of Health issued "Hep Free 2030", a ten-year statewide
strategy to help eliminate viral hepatitis types A, B, and C in Hawaii. This measure recognizes and supports the ongoing
efforts to implement the Hep Free 2030 statewide strategy and requests the House
Committee on Health, Human Services, and Homelessness and Senate Committee on
Health to convene joint informational briefings to assess the progress of the Hep
Free 2030 statewide strategy implementation and to receive any proposed
legislation that the Executive Director of Hep Free Hawaii may submit for the
Regular Session of 2022.
As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Health that is attached to this report, your Committee concurs with the intent and purpose of H.C.R. No. 59, H.D. 1, and recommends that it be referred to your Committee on Ways and Means.
Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Health,
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________________________________ JARRETT KEOHOKALOLE, Chair |
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