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R E S O L U T I O N
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WHEREAS, Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), a |
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slowly progressing disease of the airways that leads to major lung |
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dysfunction, includes three conditions also known as chronic |
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bronchitis, chronic obstructive bronchitis, and emphysema; |
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primarily caused by cigarette smoking, COPD is the fourth leading |
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cause of death in the United States and is projected to become the |
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third leading cause of death by 2020; and |
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WHEREAS, Unfortunately, Texas is not invulnerable to the |
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health consequences of cigarette smoking; according to the Centers |
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for Disease Control and Prevention, smoking-attributable illnesses |
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are the cause of 24,000 adult deaths in Texas annually, more than |
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AIDS, heroin, cocaine, car accidents, fire, and murder combined; |
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and |
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WHEREAS, Such a public health crisis and the medical care it |
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requires is costly; the National Center for Health Statistics |
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reports that in 2004 COPD was the cause of more than 630,000 |
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hospitalizations nationwide, including 65 percent of |
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hospitalizations for patients age 65 and older; in that same year |
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COPD cost the nation more than $20 billion in direct health care |
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expenditures alone; and |
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WHEREAS, Likewise, the Texas Department of State Health |
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Services reports that in 1999 tobacco-related diseases cost Texas |
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an estimated $10 billion in direct medical costs and lost worker |
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productivity and accounted for about 15 percent of all Medicaid |
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expenditures in 1998, the last years for which data is available; |
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and |
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WHEREAS, With approximately 90 percent of COPD cases in the |
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United States linked directly to smoking and no known cure for the |
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disease, smoking cessation is the most effective COPD treatment; a |
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comprehensive prevention campaign focused on smoker education and |
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early diagnosis would significantly reduce the number of people who |
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suffer and die as a result of COPD and would greatly reduce the |
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associated medical costs often covered at public expense; and |
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WHEREAS, State-sponsored pilot programs for smoking |
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cessation have been shown to work effectively in Texas; in 2006, the |
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Center for Health Research Kaiser Permanente Northwest issued a |
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final report concluding that if one such project, the Texas Tobacco |
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Prevention Initiative, were implemented on a statewide basis after |
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five years, the program would save the state more than $1.4 billion |
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in total medical and productivity costs; and |
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WHEREAS, The tragic and considerable human and economic costs |
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of COPD demand a statewide, collaborative solution and, as the |
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success of the Texas Tobacco Prevention Initiative suggests, |
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combining publicly funded programs with the efforts of private |
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entities to educate the public about the dangers of smoking to |
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prevent COPD would be a most effective policy; now, therefore, be it |
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RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 80th Texas |
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Legislature hereby encourage the Texas Health and Human Services |
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Commission to partner with private entities to provide education on |
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Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease. |