Memorializing Governor Kathy Hochul to proclaim May 2026, as Hepatitis C Awareness Month in the State of New York

Assembly Resolution No. 1283

BY: M. of A. Rules (Lavine)

        MEMORIALIZING  Governor  Kathy  Hochul to proclaim
        May 2026, as Hepatitis  C  Awareness  Month  in  the
        State of New York

  WHEREAS, Hepatitis C is a known public health threat and can lead to
more serious health complications if gone untreated; and

  WHEREAS, Hepatitis C has been a disease that has little or no public
awareness  due  to  its nature as being largely asymptomatic; as many as
half of those infected with Hepatitis C are unaware of their status; and

  WHEREAS, Currently, Hepatitis  C  infects  between  three  and  five
million Americans, including an estimated 280,000 New Yorkers, and there
are  about  58,000  new cases and over 14,000 Hepatitis C related deaths
each year in the United States; and

  WHEREAS, The total health care related costs of Hepatitis C  in  the
United  States  as of 2011 was approximately $6.5 billion and rose to $9
billion in 2024; and

  WHEREAS, Hepatitis C is largely not  reported,  and  the  public  is
uninformed about the virus; and

  WHEREAS,  Persons  born between 1945 and 1965 are disproportionately
affected by the disease with an estimated  1  out  of  33  baby  boomers
infected with Hepatitis C; and

  WHEREAS,  Persons  born  between  1981  and 1996 represent a rapidly
increasing share of new cases due to the opioid crisis; and

  WHEREAS, New York State has become a leader in promoting testing and
awareness of the disease especially among at risk populations; and

  WHEREAS, New York State became the first State in the Nation to pass
a Hepatitis C testing law that mandates that all  persons  born  between
1945 and 1965 are offered a one-time test; and

  WHEREAS,  In the absence of a vaccine for Hepatitis C, emphasis must
be placed on other means of disease prevention, including  education  of
health  care  workers,  emergency  services  workers,  veterans  and the
general public; and

  WHEREAS, Hepatitis C has been  characterized  by  the  World  Health
Organization   as  a  disease  of  primary  concern  to  humanity;  now,
therefore, be it

  RESOLVED, That this Legislative Body pause in its  deliberations  to
memorialize  Governor  Kathy Hochul to proclaim May 2026, as Hepatitis C
Awareness Month in the State of New York, and to urge  the  citizens  of
this  great  Empire State to learn about the causes, symptoms, diagnoses
and treatments for Hepatitis C; and be it further

  RESOLVED, That a copy of this  Resolution,  suitably  engrossed,  be
transmitted  to The Honorable Kathy Hochul, Governor of the State of New
York.