STAND. COM. REP. NO.1021

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2003

RE: S.C.R. No. 8

 

 

Honorable Robert Bunda

President of the Senate

Twenty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2003

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committees on Health and Human Services, to which was referred S.C.R. No. 8 entitled:

"SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 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,"

beg leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to express 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.

Testimony in support of this measure was submitted by the Hawaii State Commission on the Status of Women; the American Heart Association of Hawaii; Hawaii Pacific Health; Parents and Children Together; Life of the Land; and one concerned citizen. The Department of Health submitted testimony in support of the intent of this measure.

Your Committees find that, over the course of their lifetimes, women generally have more need for health care than men do. Women generally have a higher incidence of chronic and pathological conditions, as well as unique needs relating to breast cancer, contraception, maternity, menopause, and domestic and sexual abuse. Women also live longer than men, and therefore have more extensive need for long-term care and geriatric treatment. Women also suffer from depression twice as frequently as men, and have other mental health related needs.

Your Committees further find that, despite these disparities, women face systemic bias in the health care industry in the areas of research, diagnoses, treatment, and financing. Examples abound, including: the use of the male as normative; the exclusion of women from observational and clinical studies, even when the issue being addressed has great relevance to them; the fact that a majority of research has involved biomedical approaches, with too little attention being given to social and cultural factors which can have profound influences on women's lives.

In light of the growing awareness that women's health needs are not adequately addressed by the health professions, your Committees find that it is time to begin the discussion on how to address these serious gender inequities.

As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Health and Human Services that are attached to this report, your Committees concur with the intent and purpose of S.C.R. No. 8 and recommend its adoption.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Health and Human Services,

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SUZANNE CHUN OAKLAND, Chair

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ROSALYN H. BAKER, Chair