STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1641
Honolulu, Hawaii
RE: S.C.R. No. 42
Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi
President of the Senate
Thirty-Second State Legislature
Regular Session of 2023
State of Hawaii
Sir:
Your Committee on Health and Human Services, to which was referred S.C.R. No. 42 entitled:
"SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION REQUESTING THE BLOOD BANK OF HAWAII TO EXPEDITE THE PROCESS OF REMOVING THE DEFERRAL FOR INDIVIDUALS PREVIOUSLY CONSIDERED TO BE EXPOSED TO CREUTZFELDT-JAKOB DISEASE AND VARIANT CREUTZFELDT-JAKOB DISEASE TO ASSIST WITH THE URGENT DEMAND FOR BLOOD IN THE STATE,"
begs leave to report as follows:
The purpose and
intent of this measure is to request
the Blood Bank of Hawaii to expedite the process of removing the deferral for
individuals previously considered to be exposed to Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease
and Variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease to assist with the urgent demand for
blood in the State.
Your Committee did not receive any
testimony on this measure.
Your Committee finds that the State's blood
inventory is at a historic low. As a
result, hospitals statewide have received between twenty to forty percent less
blood than usual. Despite the dire need
for blood in the State, the State's sole blood provider, the Blood Bank of
Hawaii, has yet to adopt updated guidance issued by the Food and Drug
Administration (FDA) in May 2022 concerning individuals deferred from donating
blood due to risk for possible exposure to Variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob
Disease. These guidelines rescind the
FDA's previous recommendation to prohibit individuals from donating blood due
to time spent in certain locales once considered to be at high risk for
exposure to Variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease during specific years. The Blood Bank of Hawaii's adoption of the
FDA's updated guidelines has the potential to increase the number of
individuals eligible to donate blood and alleviate the blood shortage in the
State.
As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Health and Human Services that is attached to this report, your Committee concurs with the intent and purpose of S.C.R. No. 42 and recommends its adoption.
Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Health and Human Services,
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________________________________ JOY A. SAN BUENAVENTURA, Chair |
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