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ROBERT L. EHRLICH, JR., Governor Ch. 249
Department and to examine ways to maximize existing resources to raise
hepatitis C virus awareness: requiring the Department to implement a certain
report as funds are available; requiring the Department to implement certain
provisions of this Act as funds are available; requiring the Department to make
a certain annual report to the Governor and certain committees of the General
Assembly, providing for the termination of this Act: and generally relating to the
Department of Health and Mental Hygiene and the hepatitis C virus.
BY adding to
Article - Health - General
Section 18-1001 through 18-1009, inclusive, and 18-1002 to be under the new
subtitle "Subtitle 10. Hepatitis C Advisory Council Virus"
Annotated Code of Maryland
(2005 Replacement Volume and 2005 Supplement)
Preamble
WHEREAS, Hepatitis C is a silent killer, being largely asymptomatic until
irreversible liver damage may have occurred; and
WHEREAS, Hepatitis C has been characterized by the World Health
Organization as a disease of primary concern to humanity; and
WHEREAS, Hepatitis C currently infects approximately 4.5 million persons in
the United States, and each year there are some 30,000 new infections nationwide;
and
WHEREAS, The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate
that approximately 12,000 persons die annually from the consequences of hepatitis C,
and this number continues to grow each year; and
WHEREAS, The disease is considered to be such a public health threat that the
United States Department of Health and Human Services has initiated a
comprehensive plan to address this significant health problem, beginning with the
identification of, and notification to, hundreds of thousands of persons who are
inadvertently exposed to hepatitis C through blood transfusions; and
WHEREAS, In the absence of a vaccine for hepatitis C, emphasis must be placed
on other means of awareness and prevention of this disease, including, but not limited
to, education of persons at high risk for hepatitis C as defined by the federal Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention, as well as police officers, firefighters, health care
workers, and the general public; and
WHEREAS, Educating the public and health care community throughout the
State about hepatitis C will ensure an optimal approach to controlling this lethal
disease; now, therefore,
SECTION 1. BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF
MARYLAND, That the Laws of Maryland read as follows:
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