Bill Text: GA HR1768 | 2011-2012 | Regular Session | Introduced

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Bill Title: Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Awareness Month; May, 2012; proclaim

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 5-0)

Status: (Passed) 2012-03-12 - House Read and Adopted [HR1768 Detail]

Download: Georgia-2011-HR1768-Introduced.html

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12 LC 33 4707

House Resolution 1768

By: Representatives Cooper of the 41st, Dudgeon of the 24th, Sims of the 119th, Clark of the 104th, and Watson of the 163rd

A RESOLUTION

Proclaiming May, 2012, as Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Awareness Month; and for other purposes.

WHEREAS, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a term used to describe airflow obstruction that is associated mainly with emphysema and chronic bronchitis; and

WHEREAS, COPD affects an estimated 24 million people and kills more than 120,000 Americans every year; on average, one person dies from COPD every four minutes, an alarming statistic for a disease many are not aware of; and

WHEREAS, in 2010, the National Center for Health Statistics released a report stating that in 2008 COPD became the third leading cause of death in the United States; and

WHEREAS, pulmonary experts predict that, by the year 2020, COPD will become the third leading cause of death worldwide; and

WHEREAS, COPD currently accounts for 1.5 million emergency room visits, 726,000 hospitalizations, and 8 million physician office and hospital outpatient visits, all of which are a detriment to the U.S. economy; COPD costs the nation an estimated $42.6 billion in direct and indirect medical costs annually; and

WHEREAS, research has identified a hereditary protein deficiency called Alpha-1 Antitrypsin; people with this deficiency tend to develop COPD, even without exposure to
smoking or environmental triggers; and

WHEREAS, recently, the death rate for women with COPD has surpassed the death rate of men with COPD; women over the age of 40 are the fastest-growing segment of the population developing this irreversible disease, due in large part to the equalization of opportunities for men and women to smoke over the past several generations; and
WHEREAS, there is currently no cure for COPD; spirometry testing and medical treatments exist to address symptom relief and possibly slow the progression of the disease; and

WHEREAS, until there is a cure, the best approaches to preventing COPD and its considerable health, societal, and mortality impacts lie with education, awareness, and expanded delivery of detection and management protocols.

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES that the members of this body proclaim May, 2012, as Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Awareness Month.