0001|                       HOUSE JOINT MEMORIAL 54
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0002|     43RD LEGISLATURE - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - SECOND SESSION, 1998
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0003|                            INTRODUCED BY
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0004|                          RAYMOND G. SANCHEZ
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0005|     
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0006|                                   
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0007|     
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0008|     
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0009|     
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0010|                           A JOINT MEMORIAL
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0011|     REQUESTING THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH TO DEVELOP A COMPREHENSIVE
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0012|     PLAN TO CONTROL THE SPREAD OF HEPATITIS A.
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0013|     
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0014|          WHEREAS, hepatitis A is a highly contagious virus that
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0015|     infects thousands of New Mexicans each year, resulting in
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0016|     extreme fatigue, jaundice, abdominal pain, liver damage and
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0017|     sometimes death; and
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0018|          WHEREAS, the economic impact for persons contracting
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0019|     hepatitis A is significant, costing an estimated two hundred
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0020|     million dollars ($200,000,000) annually to treat patients and
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0021|     control outbreaks in the United States and resulting in an
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0022|     average loss of twenty-seven workdays and two thousand six
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0023|     hundred dollars ($2,600) in wages per patient; and
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0024|          WHEREAS, hepatitis A is highly contagious, and children
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0025|     are particularly susceptible; and
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0001|          WHEREAS, there is no cure for the disease, but prevention
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0002|     through immunization is successful, and the advisory committee
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0003|     on immunization practices of the centers for disease control
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0004|     recommends hepatitis A immunization in populations with
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0005|     persistently high rates of the disease such as in New Mexico;
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0006|          NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE
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0007|     STATE OF NEW MEXICO that the department of health be requested
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0008|     to develop a comprehensive plan to control the spread of
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0009|     hepatitis A; and
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0010|          BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this memorial be
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0011|     transmitted to the secretary of health.
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0012|                              
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