[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 331 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. RES. 331

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


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                    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 
 resolution; 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 transmitted 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 individuals 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 common 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 children 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 increased 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 epidemic, with Maine reporting a 729-percent increase in acute 
        hepatitis B infections from 2015 to 2017, Kentucky, West Virginia, and 
        Tennessee reporting a 114-percent increase from 2009 to 2013, 
        southeastern Massachusetts reporting a 78-percent increase in 2017, and 
        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 infectious 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 incidence of liver cancer and 
        cirrhosis through efforts to increase adult hepatitis B vaccination and 
        maintain childhood hepatitis B vaccination, particularly within the 
        setting of the opioid epidemic: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
            (1) supports the designation of ``National Adult Hepatitis 
        B Vaccination Awareness Day'';
            (2) recognizes the importance of providing support for 
        individuals to be tested for hepatitis B, vaccinating those 
        susceptible to hepatitis B, and linking to appropriate care 
        those diagnosed with hepatitis B; and
            (3) encourages a commitment to increasing adult hepatitis B 
        vaccination rates, maintaining childhood hepatitis B 
        vaccination rates, and promoting provider and community 
        awareness of adult hepatitis B vaccination in order to reduce 
        the number of new hepatitis B infections and hepatitis B-
        related deaths.
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