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1
HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION

 
2     WHEREAS, Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is a
3 term used to describe airflow obstruction that is associated
4 mainly with emphysema and chronic bronchitis; and
 
5     WHEREAS, COPD affects an estimated 24 million people and
6 kills more than 120,000 Americans every year; on average, one
7 person dies from COPD every 4 minutes, an alarming statistic
8 for a disease many have not learned about; and
 
9     WHEREAS, Of the top 5 diseases that kill Americans,
10 including heart disease and cancer, all but COPD are on the
11 decline; and
 
12     WHEREAS, Pulmonary experts predict that, by the year 2020,
13 COPD will become the 3rd leading cause of death worldwide; and
 
14     WHEREAS, COPD currently accounts for 1.5 million emergency
15 room visits, 726,000 hospitalizations, and 8 million physician
16 office and hospital outpatient visits, all of which are a
17 detriment to the U.S. economy; COPD costs the nation an
18 estimated $42.6 billion in direct and indirect medical costs
19 annually; and
 
20     WHEREAS, COPD affects over 550,000 citizens of the State of

 

 

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1 Illinois; the Illinois COPD Coalition, convened by the
2 Respiratory Health Association, is implementing the State Plan
3 for Addressing COPD in Illinois, a state-wide effort to
4 increase early detection, improve care and treatment, and
5 prevent and reduce the prevalence of the disease; and
 
6     WHEREAS, Research has identified a hereditary protein
7 deficiency called Alpha-1 Antitrypsin; people with this
8 deficiency tend to develop COPD, even without exposure to
9 smoking or environmental triggers; and
 
10     WHEREAS, Recently, the death rate for women with COPD has
11 surpassed the death rate of men with COPD; women over the age
12 of 40 are the fastest-growing segment of the population
13 developing this irreversible disease, due in large part to the
14 equalization of opportunities for men and women to smoke over
15 the past several generations; and
 
16     WHEREAS, There is currently no cure for COPD; modern
17 medical treatments can only address symptom relief and possibly
18 slow the progression of the disease; therefore, be it
 
19     RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
20 NINETY-SIXTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, THE
21 SENATE CONCURRING HEREIN, that we designate the month of
22 November as COPD Awareness Month in the State of Illinois in

 

 

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1 recognition of this deadly disease and its effects on the
2 citizens of this State.