SENATE RESOLUTION

                         1998-8719

By Senators Wood and Spanel

     WHEREAS, Chronic Hepatitis C has been classified as the silent killer, where no recognizable signs or symptoms occur until severe liver damage has occurred; and

     WHEREAS, Chronic Hepatitis C has been characterized by the World Health Organization as a disease of primary concern to humanity; and

     WHEREAS, Chronic Hepatitis C currently infects approximately four million five hundred thousand Americans and there are thirty thousand new infections each year in the United States; and

     WHEREAS, This disease is considered such a public health threat that the National Institute of Health convened an international conference of health experts in March of 1997, to issue guidelines for diagnosis, control, and treatment of Hepatitis C; and

     WHEREAS, The United States Department of Health and Human Services has launched a comprehensive plan to address this significant public health problem, beginning with the identification and notification of the hundreds of thousands of persons inadvertently exposed to Hepatitis C through blood transfusions; and

     WHEREAS, In the absence of a vaccine, emphasis must be placed on other means of disease prevention including the education of health care workers and the general public;

     NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, By the Senate of the State of Washington, That we designate the month of October as Hepatitis C Education Awareness Month urging public awareness on behalf of the Department of Health through increased public education during this month.

I, Mike O=Connell, Secretary of the Senate,

do hereby certify that this is a true and

correct copy of Senate Resolution 1998-8719,

adopted by the Senate March 12, 1998.

MIKE O=CONNELL

Secretary of the Senate