HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES |
H.R. NO. |
165 |
TWENTY-SECOND LEGISLATURE, 2003 |
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STATE OF HAWAII |
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Expressing support for a Women's Health Platform that recognizes serious inequities in the health prevention and treatment of women, and calls for the elimination of these inequities to improve the health status of women in Hawaii.
WHEREAS, state government can increase its support for women's health and can make a significant difference in improving the status of women's health; and
WHEREAS, women are different, metabolically, hormonally, and physiologically from men and have different patterns of health and disease, and some diseases are more common in women than in men; and
WHEREAS, women are more likely to suffer from chronic diseases -- more than one in five women have some form of cardiovascular disease and one in two women will have an osteoporosis-related fracture in her lifetime; and
WHEREAS, women are three times more likely to develop rheumatoid arthritis and two to three times more likely to suffer from depression; and
WHEREAS, women are less often referred for diagnostic tests and less often treated for heart disease as compared to men; and
WHEREAS, women, if they are smokers, are twenty to seventy per cent more likely to develop lung cancer and ten times more likely than men to contract HIV during unprotected sex; and
WHEREAS, women outnumber men three to one in long-term care facilities; and
WHEREAS, on the average, women in Hawaii live longer than in any other state; and
WHEREAS, women are much more likely to provide health care to family members and make health care decisions and spend two of every three health care dollars; and
WHEREAS, there is abundant evidence that women are under-treated compared to men; and
WHEREAS, there is abundant evidence that women are under-represented in women's health studies; and
WHEREAS, although there has been some national attention given to women's health care issues, and some legislative activity by Congress on access issues, there remains little change in vitally important preventive care and treatment issues; and
WHEREAS, in a recent survey of voters, almost eighty per cent of women and sixty per cent of men favored a women's health platform which supports relevant care, research, and education for women; and
WHEREAS, women have the right to access quality treatment and the latest technologies and appropriate diagnostic tests; now, therefore,
BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-second Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2003, that this body expresses its support for a women's health platform that recognizes serious inequities in the health prevention and treatment of women, and calls for the elimination of these inequities to improve the health status of women in Hawaii; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Health, the Department of Human Services, the John A. Burns School of Medicine, and the Hawaii Medical Association is requested to advance toward achieving improved and equal access for women to quality health care, including:
(10) Conducting more health outcomes research to demonstrate the value of women's health care interventions and preventive health measures in both the long- and short-term;
(11) Expanding medical and nursing school curricula in the area of women's health, and education about gender biology;
(12) Supporting public education campaigns to increase women's awareness about their unique health risks, how to negotiate the complexities of today's health care system, and obtain the best care available;
(13) Conducting public health campaigns via state and local departments of public health with private sector partners to focus on key women's preventive health issues;
(14) Urging the Commission on the Status of Women to raise awareness of women's special health care needs and advocate initiatives to address them;
(15) Fostering development and dissemination of publicly available information on the quality of health care and health outcomes that improve women's ability to choose the best women's health care plan; and
(16) Expanding state screening programs targeted at lower-income women to include a full range of known risk factors;
and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to:
Health Systems Corporation; the Chief of the Office of Health Care Assurance; and the Chief of the Office of Health Status Monitoring.
(5) The Director of Human Services, who is requested to transmit certified copies of this Resolution to all appropriate agencies within or administratively attached to the Department of Human Services, including the Administrator of the MED-QUEST Division and the Administrator of the Social Services Division.
(6) The State Commission on the Status of Women and the county commissions on the Status of Women.
(7) The Hawaii Medical Association.
OFFERED BY: |
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Report Title:
Women's Health; Prevention and Treatment; Eliminate Inequities