THE SENATE

S.C.R. NO.

70

TWENTY-SECOND LEGISLATURE, 2004

 

STATE OF HAWAII

 
   


SENATE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

 

recognizing 2004 as the year of polio awareness in the state of hawaii.

 

WHEREAS, this year, 2004, is the 50th anniversary of the development of the polio vaccine; and

WHEREAS, as many as forty-three percent of American children are thought not to have received all the required doses of the polio vaccine; and

WHEREAS, the success of the polio vaccine has caused people to neglect the 1,600,000 American polio survivors born before the development of the vaccine who had polio during the epidemics in the middle of the twentieth century; and

WHEREAS, of the twenty million polio survivors throughout the world, approximately seventy-five percent who had paralytic polio and forty percent who had "non-paralytic" polio are experiencing Post-Polio Syndrome; and

WHEREAS, Post-Polio Syndrome is the unexpected and often disabling symptoms including fatigue, muscle and joint pain, new weakness, cold sensitivity, swallowing problems, and breathing problems that can occur some thirty to forty years after the initial polio virus attack; and

WHEREAS, many health care professionals and polio survivors do not know of the existence of Post-Polio Syndrome and are not aware of available treatments; and

WHEREAS, the mission of the Hawaii Post-Polio Network includes educating medical professionals, polio survivors, and the community about Post-Polio Syndrome, as well as providing a support group for patients and families; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Twenty-Second Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2004, the House of Representatives concurring, that the State recognize the year 2004 as "The Year of Polio Awareness" to promote vaccination and Post-Polio Syndrome education and treatment; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Governor, Director of Health, Director of Human Services, and Chairperson of the Hawaii Post-Polio Network.

 

 

 

OFFERED BY:

_____________________________

Report Title:

Polio Awareness