Bill Text: HI HCR98 | 2016 | Regular Session | Introduced

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Bill Title: Department of Health; Science Advisory Group

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 16-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2016-03-14 - Referred to HLT, referral sheet 28 [HCR98 Detail]

Download: Hawaii-2016-HCR98-Introduced.html

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HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.C.R. NO.	98
TWENTY-EIGHTH LEGISLATURE, 2016
STATE OF HAWAII

HOUSE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

 

 

requestING the Department of Health to convene a science advisory group of experts specializing in the development of tests for emerging infectious diseases.

 

 

 

     WHEREAS, among other responsibilities, the Biological Response Section of the State Laboratories Division of the Department of Health is intended to:

 

     (1)  Analyze and detect microbial threat agents on human and animal clinical specimens; environmental soil, water, and "white" powder samples; and food samples in response to bioterrorism and other public health emergencies;

 

     (2)  Provide training for sentinel laboratorians in the presumptive identification of bioterrorism agents in clinical specimens;

 

     (3)  Ensure that sentinel laboratories are prepared to detect and respond to a bioterrorism event in an appropriate and integrated manner;

 

     (4)  Ensure secure and timely electronic reporting of laboratory results to the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Department of Health, and other stakeholders;

 

     (5)  Provide pulsed-field gel electrophoresis testing and analysis, which is bacterial DNA fingerprinting, in support of the Disease Outbreak Control Division of the Department of Health; and

 

     WHEREAS, the State needs to be on the alert for emerging infectious diseases, such as the dengue, Zika, chikungunya, and West Nile viruses; and

 

     WHEREAS, the State Laboratories Division has recently received dengue and Zika virus testing kits from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; and

 

     WHEREAS, the State Laboratories Division has shown that it lacks the capability to develop immunological-based and nucleic acid-based testing in the State and cannot provide in-house testing for infectious diseases; and

 

     WHEREAS, the State Laboratories Division is unwilling to establish localized testing facilities on neighbor islands, and is thus causing delays in the evaluation and treatment of patients and appropriate remediation of the environment; now, therefore,

 

     BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-eighth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2016, the Senate concurring, that the Department of Health is requested to convene a science advisory group of experts specializing in the development of tests for emerging infectious diseases; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the science advisory group is requested to:

 

     (1)  Evaluate the State Laboratories Division's current testing policies and procedures, and its capability and capacity to respond to health threats;

 

     (2)  Make recommendations regarding available state of the art tests;

 

     (3)  Make recommendations for a laboratory in the State of Hawaii that will rapidly respond to infectious diseases occurring in the State and the Pacific region;

 

     (4)  Report on agreements within and without the State for laboratory testing and associated costs; and

 

     (5)  Estimate the costs of developing testing facilities on the neighbor islands; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the science advisory group is requested to include, at minimum, experts in evaluation of and testing for emerging infectious diseases, including individuals from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Institutes of Health, and the John A. Burns School of Medicine at the University of Hawaii at Manoa; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the science advisory group is requested to submit a report of its findings and recommendations to the Legislature no later than twenty days before the convening of the Regular Session of 2017; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the science advisory group is requested to cease to exist on December 31, 2016; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Governor; the Director of Health, who is requested to transmit copies to the Chair of the Department of Tropical Medicine, Medical Microbiology & Pharmacology at the John A. Burns School of Medicine at the University of Hawaii at Manoa; the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; and the Director of the National Institutes of Health.

 

 

 

	OFFERED BY:	_____________________________

Report Title: 

Department of Health; Science Advisory Group