Bill Text: IL HR0603 | 2019-2020 | 101st General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Calls upon the Director of the Illinois Department of Public Health to expeditiously participate in legislative public hearings, as well as hearings within the communities so affected, in order to provide expert and public testimony concerning the amelioration of this disturbing and reversible public health threat. Urges additional appropriations in State funding, along with any available federal dollars, to provide necessary preventative diagnostic and treatment services to mitigate the harmful effects of HIV among at-risk African American and Latinx populations.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 14-0)
Status: (Passed) 2019-11-13 - Added Co-Sponsor Rep. Jennifer Gong-Gershowitz [HR0603 Detail]
Download: Illinois-2019-HR0603-Introduced.html
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1 | HOUSE RESOLUTION
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2 | WHEREAS, The Illinois Department of Public Health has | ||||||
3 | determined that African American and Latinx at-risk | ||||||
4 | populations are
among the five demographics selected for | ||||||
5 | funding beginning early 2019 in support of Community
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6 | Development initiatives; it is imperative that the voices of | ||||||
7 | those most imminently affected by this
crucial health issue be | ||||||
8 | heard before any funding is considered; and
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9 | WHEREAS, The most recent and available statistics place HIV | ||||||
10 | disease as one of the top five leading causes of death in
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11 | African American women between the ages of 35 to 44 and the | ||||||
12 | seventh ranking cause in African American women
between the | ||||||
13 | ages of 20 to 34; and
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14 | WHEREAS, According to the Chicago Department of Public | ||||||
15 | Health, this city's African Americans are afflicted with
more | ||||||
16 | than half of the newly diagnosed HIV and AIDS cases; | ||||||
17 | non-Hispanic African Americans were the most
frequently | ||||||
18 | diagnosed population, representing 58.5% of new HIV diagnoses, | ||||||
19 | 56.4% of AIDS diagnoses, and 55.2%
of late diagnoses; and
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20 | WHEREAS, In 2016, the highest rates of new individual HIV | ||||||
21 | infection diagnoses occurred in the predominantly
African | ||||||
22 | American neighborhoods of Douglas, Grand Boulevard, Kenwood, |
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1 | North Lawndale, Washington Park, and
West Garfield Park; and
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2 | WHEREAS, It is imperative that action be taken to halt new | ||||||
3 | HIV infections among these demonstrably at-risk
African | ||||||
4 | American men and women, which continue at an alarming rate that | ||||||
5 | exceeds 80% while new cases of
infections among the | ||||||
6 | corresponding at-risk Caucasian demographic have dramatically | ||||||
7 | decreased to a current rate of
less than 20%; and
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8 | WHEREAS, Hispanics/Latinos recently accounted for about | ||||||
9 | one quarter of all new diagnoses of HIV in the
United States, | ||||||
10 | despite representing about 18% of the total U.S. population; | ||||||
11 | and
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12 | WHEREAS, More than 20% of people living with HIV in the | ||||||
13 | City of Chicago identify as Latinx, with the
highest risk and | ||||||
14 | most marginalized subpopulations (injection drug users, sexual | ||||||
15 | and gender minorities,
etc.) exclusively depending on | ||||||
16 | indigenous-led and staffed organizations for services; and
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17 | WHEREAS, Young men ages 20 to 29, especially Black and | ||||||
18 | Latino men who have sexual contact with
men, also continue to | ||||||
19 | make up the majority of new diagnoses, while transgender women, | ||||||
20 | particularly
those of color, also are disproportionately | ||||||
21 | affected; the City of Chicago stated that these populations, as | ||||||
22 | well
as Chicagoans in some southern, western, and northern |
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1 | community areas, continue to be "priority
populations" for HIV | ||||||
2 | prevention efforts; and
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3 | WHEREAS, Gay and bisexual men accounted for 85% (7,271) of | ||||||
4 | the HIV diagnoses among Hispanic/Latino
men in 2015, with | ||||||
5 | indigenous-led organizations on the South and West sides of | ||||||
6 | Chicago leading efforts
for outreach and engagement with the | ||||||
7 | highest risk individuals; and
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8 | WHEREAS, According to reporting by the Chicago Department | ||||||
9 | of Public Health in 2016, gay, bisexual, and other men
who have | ||||||
10 | sex with men, particularly Latino men, bear a disproportionate | ||||||
11 | burden of HIV; and
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12 | WHEREAS, Significant gaps in knowledge exist concerning | ||||||
13 | HIV incidence and prevalence in the Latinx
community, | ||||||
14 | especially given the influx of evacuees into the city from | ||||||
15 | Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria; therefore, be it
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16 | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE | ||||||
17 | HUNDRED FIRST GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that | ||||||
18 | we call upon the Director of the Illinois Department of Public | ||||||
19 | Health to expeditiously participate in legislative public | ||||||
20 | hearings, as well as hearings within the communities so | ||||||
21 | affected, in order to provide expert and public testimony | ||||||
22 | concerning the amelioration of this disturbing and reversible |
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1 | public health threat; and be it further
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2 | RESOLVED, That we urge additional appropriations in State | ||||||
3 | funding, along with any available federal dollars, to provide | ||||||
4 | necessary preventative diagnostic and treatment services to | ||||||
5 | mitigate the harmful effects of HIV among at-risk African | ||||||
6 | American and Latinx populations; and be it further
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7 | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | ||||||
8 | delivered to the Director of the Illinois Department of Public | ||||||
9 | Health.
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