Expressing support for the designation of April 30 as "National Adult Hepatitis B Vaccination Awareness Day".

IV 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. RES. 331 Expressing support for the designation of April 30 as ‘‘National Adult Hepatitis B Vaccination Awareness Day’’. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES APRIL 30, 2019 Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia (for himself, Ms. MENG, Mr. FITZPATRICK, Ms. LEE of California, Mr. LEWIS, Ms. NORTON, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN, and Ms. JUDY CHU of California) submitted the following res- olution; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce RESOLUTION Expressing support for the designation of April 30 as ‘‘National Adult Hepatitis B Vaccination Awareness Day’’. Whereas up to 2.2 million individuals in the United States are chronically infected with hepatitis B, and up to two- thirds of individuals with chronic hepatitis B are unaware of their infection status; Whereas hepatitis B is a viral infection of the liver trans- mitted via infected blood and other body fluids, including mother-to-child transmission and transmission through injection drug use; Whereas individuals with chronic diseases such as diabetes, HIV, hepatitis C, and chronic liver disease, and individ- VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:46 Apr 30, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\HR331.IH HR331 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HRES 331 IH uals on hemodialysis are at an increased risk for hepatitis B co-infection; Whereas there is no cure for hepatitis B and individuals with chronic hepatitis B require lifelong medical care; Whereas chronic hepatitis B represents one of the most com- mon causes of liver cancer; Whereas 1 in every 4 individuals with unmanaged chronic hepatitis B will develop liver cancer, cirrhosis, or liver failure, with liver cancer only having an 18 percent 5- year survival rate in the United States; Whereas safe and highly effective vaccines to protect against hepatitis B are currently available and infants and chil- dren have been routinely vaccinated against hepatitis B since the 1990s in accordance with universal childhood hepatitis B vaccination recommendations in the United States; Whereas the hepatitis B vaccine, which is 95 percent effective and was the first anticancer vaccine to be developed, is projected to prevent 310 million cases of hepatitis B worldwide from 1990 to 2020; Whereas only 25 percent of adults are vaccinated against hepatitis B in the United States; Whereas the number of reported acute hepatitis B cases in- creased by 20 percent nationwide in 2015, and there have been significant regional increases in acute hepatitis B cases in the United States as a result of the opioid epi- demic, with Maine reporting a 729-percent increase in acute hepatitis B infections from 2015 to 2017, Ken- tucky, West Virginia, and Tennessee reporting a 114-per- cent increase from 2009 to 2013, southeastern Massa- chusetts reporting a 78-percent increase in 2017, and VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:46 Apr 30, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\HR331.IH HR331 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HRES 331 IH North Carolina reporting a 62-percent increase from 2012 to 2016; Whereas, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, hepatitis B is 50 to 100 times more infec- tious than HIV and 5 to 10 times more infectious than hepatitis C; and Whereas there are significant opportunities to prevent new hepatitis B infections and subsequently reduce the inci- dence of liver cancer and cirrhosis through efforts to in- crease adult hepatitis B vaccination and maintain child- hood hepatitis B vaccination, particularly within the set- ting of the opioid epidemic: Now, therefore, be it Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 1 (1) supports the designation of ‘‘National Adult 2 Hepatitis B Vaccination Awareness Day’’; 3 (2) recognizes the importance of providing sup- 4 port for individuals to be tested for hepatitis B, vac- 5 cinating those susceptible to hepatitis B, and linking 6 to appropriate care those diagnosed with hepatitis B; 7 and 8 (3) encourages a commitment to increasing 9 adult hepatitis B vaccination rates, maintaining 10 childhood hepatitis B vaccination rates, and pro- 11 moting provider and community awareness of adult 12 hepatitis B vaccination in order to reduce the num- 13 ber of new hepatitis B infections and hepatitis B-re- 14 lated deaths. 15 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:46 Apr 30, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\HR331.IH HR331 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS