Bill Text: IL SR0803 | 2025-2026 | 104th General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Encourages healthcare providers, hospitals, community health centers, pharmacies, and the Illinois Department of Public Health to promote the hepatitis B vaccination as a highly effective and safe public health measure and help increase public awareness about the importance of receiving a hepatitis B vaccination and expand access and awareness of hepatitis testing and treatment options. Encourages the Illinois Department of Public Health, healthcare providers, and patients/community representatives to develop or amend an effective and actionable state hepatitis B strategic plan, focused on areas such as immunization, screening, and linkage to care, which will align stakeholders on shared objectives and efforts to facilitate broad screening, vaccine, and treatment availability and access with comparable initiatives in other states (i.e., New York Viral Hepatitis Strategic Plan) used as guiding models for plan development. Encourages the Illinois Department of Health to establish a hepatitis B working group to develop measurable goals on which to center the hepatitis B strategic plan with goals that may include but are not limited to strengthening immunization infrastructure, improving coverage policies, assessing vaccine administration fees, increasing community demand, improving vaccine confidence, and promoting health equity initiatives to improve vaccine, screening and treatment uptake.

Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2026-05-18 - Referred to Assignments [SR0803 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2025-SR0803-Introduced.html

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SENATE RESOLUTION
WHEREAS, Hepatitis B is a liver infection caused by the
hepatitis B virus, and current evidence indicates that
approximately 1.8 million Americans are infected with the
hepatitis B virus; it spreads from person to person via
contact with infected blood and/or body fluids, and hepatitis
B infections can range from an acute, mild, short-term illness
to a chronic, serious, long-term infection that can lead to
cirrhosis and liver cancer; infants exposed to hepatitis B
have a 90% risk of developing chronic hepatitis B compared to
adults at 5%, increasing their risk of developing liver cancer
or cirrhosis in their lifetimes; and
WHEREAS, A reported 85% of infants and 50% of older
children and adults with hepatitis B are asymptomatic, and
approximately 1 in 2 people who have hepatitis B are unaware of
their infection status and the need to safeguard infant
health; in 1991, the Advisory Committee on Immunization
Practices (ACIP) issued its first universal hepatitis B birth
dose recommendation, which led to the implementation of the
universal hepatitis B vaccination program in 1992 in the
United States; and
WHEREAS, Treatment reduces the risk of serious conditions
such as liver cancer or cirrhosis, but an estimate of up to 75%

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of people who have hepatitis B in the U.S. and are eligible for
treatment are not prescribed treatment, including 40% of those
with advanced liver disease; and
WHEREAS, A contemporary analysis of evidence on the
hepatitis B birth dose, conducted 35 years after the
implementation of the universal hepatitis B birth dose
recommendation, further affirms the well-established safety
and efficacy of the hepatitis B vaccine and the profound
impact it has on protecting public health, and before the
universal hepatitis B birth dose recommendation, approximately
18,000 children in the United States were infected each year
by hepatitis B virus before their tenth birthdays; and
WHEREAS, From 1990 to 2019, the universal hepatitis B
birth dose recommendation led to a 99% decline in reported
cases of acute hepatitis B in children and young adults and
averted an estimated 90,100 deaths in the United States,
however, despite this immense progress, hepatitis B birth dose
coverage has steadily declined in recent years, from 83.5% in
2023 to 73.2% as of August 2025, well below the Healthy People
2030 target of 90%; hepatitis B vaccination at birth is
critical, and vaccination in adults remains essential to
safeguarding public health and decreasing hepatitis B cases;
and

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WHEREAS, Vaccination coverage remains low among US adults
at 32.5%, with data showing that less than half, 43.1%, of
adults ages 32-59 believed they were eligible for hepatitis B
vaccination and 30% reported ever receiving a provider
recommendation; and
WHEREAS, Racial and ethnic minorities experience higher
rates of hepatitis B infection and face disparities in vaccine
awareness, access, and uptake; in 2023, the rate of acute
hepatitis B infections was 1.9 times higher in Black
populations than White populations, and the incidence of
chronic hepatitis B was 56% higher than the national average;
these disparities underscore the importance of timely
vaccination as one of the most effective ways to prevent
hepatitis B infection and reduce the risk of severe health
complications in pediatric and adult populations; and
WHEREAS, Given existing shortfalls in annual hepatitis B
screening practices, despite a universal hepatitis B screening
recommendation for pregnant women, vaccination remains the
safest and most effective way to proactively safeguard public
health and prevent the devastating effects of hepatitis B
infection, and given existing gaps related to linkage to care
for people who have hepatitis B, greater awareness of and
access to hepatitis B screening and treatment options are
needed to safeguard public health; therefore, be it

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RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDRED FOURTH GENERAL
ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we encourage
healthcare providers, hospitals, community health centers,
pharmacies, and the Illinois Department of Public Health to
promote the hepatitis B vaccination as a highly effective and
safe public health measure and help increase public awareness
about the importance of receiving a hepatitis B vaccination
and expand access and awareness of hepatitis testing and
treatment options; and be it further
RESOLVED, That we encourage the Illinois Department of
Public Health, healthcare providers, and patients/community
representatives to develop or amend an effective and
actionable state hepatitis B strategic plan, focused on areas
such as immunization, screening, and linkage to care, which
will align stakeholders on shared objectives and efforts to
facilitate broad screening, vaccine, and treatment
availability and access with comparable initiatives in other
states (i.e., New York Viral Hepatitis Strategic Plan) used as
guiding models for plan development; and be it further
RESOLVED, That we encourage the Illinois Department of
Health to establish a hepatitis B working group to develop
measurable goals on which to center the hepatitis B strategic
plan with goals that may include but are not limited to

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strengthening immunization infrastructure, improving coverage
policies, assessing vaccine administration fees, increasing
community demand, improving vaccine confidence, and promoting
health equity initiatives to improve vaccine, screening and
treatment uptake; the hepatitis B working group should provide
timely updates on its activities, progress toward established
goals, and any recommendations.