By Maxey                                               H.R. No. 189
         76R6019 MDM-D                           
                                 R E S O L U T I O N
 1-1           WHEREAS, The National Institutes of Health has declared
 1-2     chronic viral hepatitis to be a major public health care issue; and
 1-3           WHEREAS, At the present time, chronic viral hepatitis infects
 1-4     4,500,000 Americans; each year, 150,000 new cases of chronic viral
 1-5     hepatitis occur in the United States; and
 1-6           WHEREAS, The cause of 8,000 to 10,000 preventable deaths a
 1-7     year in the United States, the hepatitis C virus costs the nation
 1-8     more than $7 million per 100,000 patients because people infected
 1-9     with the virus experience few symptoms until the virus causes
1-10     irreversible liver damage; and
1-11           WHEREAS, Eighty-five percent of all Americans infected with
1-12     the hepatitis C virus become chronically infected and develop
1-13     cirrhosis and liver cancer, and in more than 40 percent of infected
1-14     patients, it is unknown how the virus was transmitted; and
1-15           WHEREAS, There is a United States Food and Drug
1-16     Administration approved treatment for the hepatitis C virus, and
1-17     educating Americans more fully about this disease will undoubtedly
1-18     help to prevent its spread; now, therefore, be it
1-19           RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 76th Texas
1-20     Legislature hereby recognize March 22-28, 1999, as Hepatitis
1-21     Awareness Week; and, be it further
1-22           RESOLVED, That all Texans be encouraged to observe this
1-23     occasion by learning more about the prevention and treatment of the
1-24     hepatitis C virus.