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1    AN ACT concerning State government.
 
2    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3represented in the General Assembly:
 
4    Section 5. The Department of Public Health Powers and
5Duties Law of the Civil Administrative Code of Illinois is
6amended by changing Section 2310-675 as follows:
 
7    (20 ILCS 2310/2310-675)
8    (Section scheduled to be repealed on January 1, 2016)
9    Sec. 2310-675. Hepatitis C Task Force.
10    (a) The General Assembly finds and declares the following:
11        (1) Viral hepatitis is a contagious and
12    life-threatening disease that has a substantial and
13    increasing effect upon the lifespans and quality of life of
14    at least 5,000,000 persons living in the United States and
15    as many as 180,000,000 worldwide. According to the U.S.
16    Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the chronic
17    form of the hepatitis C virus (HCV) and hepatitis B virus
18    (HBV) account for the vast majority of hepatitis-related
19    mortalities in the U.S., yet as many as 65% to 75% of
20    infected Americans remain unaware that they are infected
21    with the virus, prompting the U.S. Centers for Disease
22    Control and Prevention (CDC) to label these viruses as the
23    silent epidemic. HCV and HBV are major public health

 

 

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1    problems that cause chronic liver diseases, such as
2    cirrhosis, liver failure, and liver cancer. The 5-year
3    survival rate for primary liver cancer is less than 5%.
4    These viruses are also the leading cause of liver
5    transplantation in the United States. While there is a
6    vaccine for HBV, no vaccine exists for HCV. However, there
7    are anti-viral treatments for HCV that can improve the
8    prognosis or actually clear the virus from the patient's
9    system. Unfortunately, the vast majority of infected
10    patients remain unaware that they have the virus since
11    there are generally no symptoms. Therefore, there is a dire
12    need to aid the public in identifying certain risk factors
13    that would warrant testing for these viruses. Millions of
14    infected patients remain undiagnosed and continue to be at
15    elevated risks for developing more serious complications.
16    More needs to be done to educate the public about this
17    disease and the risk factors that warrant testing. In some
18    cases, infected patients play an unknowing role in further
19    spreading this infectious disease.
20        (2) The existence of HCV was definitively published and
21    discovered by medical researchers in 1989. Prior to this
22    date, HCV is believed to have spread unchecked. The
23    American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases
24    (AASLD) recommends that primary care physicians screen all
25    patients for a history of any viral hepatitis risk factor
26    and test those individuals with at least one identifiable

 

 

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1    risk factor for the virus. Some of the most common risk
2    factors have been identified by AASLD, HHS, and the U.S.
3    Department of Veterans Affairs, as well as other public
4    health and medical research organizations, and include the
5    following:
6            (A) anyone who has received a blood transfusion
7        prior to 1992;
8            (B) anyone who is a Vietnam-era veteran;
9            (C) anyone who has abnormal liver function tests;
10            (D) anyone infected with the HIV virus;
11            (E) anyone who has used a needle to inject drugs;
12            (F) any health care, emergency medical, or public
13        safety worker who has been stuck by a needle or exposed
14        to any mucosal fluids of an HCV-infected person; and
15            (G) any children born to HCV-infected mothers.
16        A 1994 study determined that Caucasian Americans
17    statistically accounted for the most number of infected
18    persons in the United States, while the highest incidence
19    rates were among African and Hispanic Americans.
20        (3) In January of 2010, the Institute of Medicine
21    (IOM), commissioned by the CDC, issued a comprehensive
22    report entitled Hepatitis and Liver Cancer: A National
23    Strategy for Prevention and Control of Hepatitis B and C.
24    The key findings and recommendations from the IOM's report
25    are (A) there is a lack of knowledge and awareness about
26    chronic viral hepatitis on the part of health care and

 

 

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1    social service providers, (B) there is a lack of knowledge
2    and awareness about chronic viral hepatitis among at-risk
3    populations, members of the public, and policy makers, and
4    (C) there is insufficient understanding about the extent
5    and seriousness of the public health problem, so inadequate
6    public resources are being allocated to prevention,
7    control, and surveillance programs.
8        (4) In this same 2010 IOM report, researchers compared
9    the prevalence and incidences of HCV, HBV, and HIV and
10    found that, although there are only 1,100,000 HIV/AIDS
11    infected persons in the United States and over 4,000,000
12    Americans infected with viral hepatitis, the percentage of
13    those with HIV that are unaware they have HIV is only 21%
14    as opposed to approximately 70% of those with viral
15    hepatitis being unaware that they have viral hepatitis. It
16    appears that public awareness of risk factors associated
17    with each of these diseases could be a major factor in the
18    alarming disparity between the percentage of the
19    population that is infected with one of these blood
20    viruses, but unaware that they are infected.
21        (5) In light of the widely varied nature of the risk
22    factors mentioned in this subsection (a), the previous
23    findings by the Institute of Medicine, and the clear
24    evidence of the disproportional public awareness between
25    HIV and viral hepatitis, it is clearly in the public
26    interest for this State to establish a task force to gather

 

 

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1    testimony and develop an action plan to (A) increase public
2    awareness of the risk factors for these viruses, (B)
3    improve access to screening for these viruses, and (C)
4    provide those infected with information about the
5    prognosis, treatment options, and elevated risk of
6    developing cirrhosis and liver cancer. There is clear and
7    increasing evidence that many adults in Illinois and in the
8    United States have at least one of the risk factors
9    mentioned in this subsection (a).
10        (6) The General Assembly also finds that it is in the
11    public interest to bring communities of Illinois-based
12    veterans of American military service into familiarity
13    with the issues created by this disease, because many
14    veterans, especially Vietnam-era veterans, have at least
15    one of the previously enumerated risk factors and are
16    especially prone to being affected by this disease; and
17    because veterans of American military service should enjoy
18    in all cases, and do enjoy in most cases, adequate access
19    to health care services that include medical management and
20    care for preexisting and long-term medical conditions,
21    such as infection with the hepatitis virus.
22    (b) There is established the Hepatitis C Task Force within
23the Department of Public Health. The purpose of the Task Force
24shall be to:
25        (1) develop strategies to identify and address the
26    unmet needs of persons with hepatitis C in order to enhance

 

 

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1    the quality of life of persons with hepatitis C by
2    maximizing productivity and independence and addressing
3    emotional, social, financial, and vocational challenges of
4    persons with hepatitis C;
5        (2) develop strategies to provide persons with
6    hepatitis C greater access to various treatments and other
7    therapeutic options that may be available; and
8        (3) develop strategies to improve hepatitis C
9    education and awareness.
10    (c) The Task Force shall consist of 17 members as follows:
11        (1) the Director of Public Health, the Director of
12    Veterans' Affairs, and the Director of Human Services, or
13    their designees, who shall serve ex officio;
14        (2) ten public members who shall be appointed by the
15    Director of Public Health from the medical, patient, and
16    service provider communities, including, but not limited
17    to, HCV Support, Inc.; and
18        (3) four members of the General Assembly, appointed one
19    each by the President of the Senate, the Minority Leader of
20    the Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives,
21    and the Minority Leader of the House of Representatives.
22    Vacancies in the membership of the Task Force shall be
23filled in the same manner provided for in the original
24appointments.
25    (d) The Task Force shall organize within 120 days following
26the appointment of a majority of its members and shall select a

 

 

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1chairperson and vice-chairperson from among the members. The
2chairperson shall appoint a secretary, who need not be a member
3of the Task Force.
4    (e) The public members shall serve without compensation and
5shall not be reimbursed for necessary expenses incurred in the
6performance of their duties, unless funds become available to
7the Task Force.
8    (f) The Task Force shall be entitled to call to its
9assistance and avail itself of the services of the employees of
10any State, county, or municipal department, board, bureau,
11commission, or agency as it may require and as may be available
12to it for its purposes.
13    (g) The Task Force may meet and hold hearings as it deems
14appropriate.
15    (h) The Department of Public Health shall provide staff
16support to the Task Force.
17    (i) The Task Force shall report its findings and
18recommendations to the Governor and to the General Assembly,
19along with any legislative bills that it desires to recommend
20for adoption by the General Assembly, no later than December
2131, 2015.
22    (j) The Task Force is abolished and this Section is
23repealed on January 1, 2017 2016.
24(Source: P.A. 98-493, eff. 8-16-13; 98-756, eff. 7-16-14.)