H-2268              _______________________________________________

                                    HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 4413

                        _______________________________________________

State of Washington                              50th Legislature                              1987 Regular Session

By Representatives Moyer, Brooks, Wineberry, Silver, Rasmussen, Padden, Crane, Leonard, Schoon, Sprenkle, Ballard, Sutherland, Meyers, Fuhrman and Day

Read first time 3/27/87 and referred to Committee on Health Care.

WHEREAS, It is the paramount duty of state and local health officers to protect the public health; and

          WHEREAS, Acquired immune deficiency syndrome, (AIDS), is a serious, communicable disease that is presently incurable by any known treatment; and

          WHEREAS, AIDS is presently one hundred percent fatal to all known victims within a few years after they have contracted the disease; and

          WHEREAS, AIDS is causing indescribable human misery and loss of precious human life, and yet material and substantial aspects of this disease which are critical to its prevention, containment, and cure presently remain unknown or uncertain; and

          WHEREAS, Development of an effective treatment for AIDS cannot be assured in the near future; and

          WHEREAS, Epidemiological surveillance of the occurrence of AIDS has demonstrated that the major risk behaviors associated with AIDS  are high-risk sexual activities and intravenous drug use; and

          WHEREAS, Significant health risks to the citizens of this state can be projected and the potential economic costs of reducing such risks may become monumental creating ethical dilemmas never before appreciated or considered; and

          WHEREAS, In view of the compelling uncertainties surrounding this rapidly increasing and major danger to the public health, appropriate and immediate public health care consideration is absolutely crucial to the formation of a policy for interrupting the potentially catastrophic spread of AIDS among the people of this state; and

          WHEREAS, The rapid growth and heightened visibility of AIDS is producing public hysteria, more education and understanding of this disease is required; and

          WHEREAS, It is deemed essential to explore appropriate health measures to protect the public, to prevent the spread of AIDS, and to preserve the dignity and humanity of those persons infected with AIDS;

          NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, By the House of Representatives of the state of Washington, the Senate concurring, That a joint select committee on AIDS be established to review data currently available about AIDS, to establish methods to obtain detailed information about the existence, spread, and frequency of AIDS, to examine control measures reasonably believed to be effective as indicated by the information acquired and by medically sound practice, and to review procedures for the reporting of AIDS-related malignancies; and

          BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That the committee consist of ten members, two members from each caucus in the Senate and the House of Representatives, selected by the respective caucus, and two members from the state board of health; and

          BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That the committee prepare an objective report of their findings and submit the report along with their recommendations to the legislature at the beginning of the regular session held in 1988.