IV 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. RES. 331 

Expressing support for the designation of April 30 as ‘‘National Adult 

Hepatitis B Vaccination Awareness Day’’. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 30, 2019 

Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia (for himself, Ms. MENG, Mr. FITZPATRICK, Ms. LEE

of California, Mr. LEWIS, Ms. NORTON, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mrs. WATSON

COLEMAN, and Ms. JUDY CHU of California) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 

RESOLUTION 

Expressing support for the designation of April 30 as 

‘‘National Adult Hepatitis B Vaccination Awareness Day’’. 

Whereas up to 2.2 million individuals in the United States 

are chronically infected with hepatitis B, and up to twothirds of individuals with chronic hepatitis B are unaware 

of their infection status; 

Whereas hepatitis B is a viral infection of the liver transmitted via infected blood and other body fluids, including 

mother-to-child transmission and transmission through 

injection drug use; 

Whereas individuals with chronic diseases such as diabetes, 

HIV, hepatitis C, and chronic liver disease, and individVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:46 Apr 30, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\HR331.IH HR331

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•HRES 331 IH 

uals on hemodialysis are at an increased risk for hepatitis 

B co-infection; 

Whereas there is no cure for hepatitis B and individuals with 

chronic hepatitis B require lifelong medical care; 

Whereas chronic hepatitis B represents one of the most common causes of liver cancer; 

Whereas 1 in every 4 individuals with unmanaged chronic 

hepatitis B will develop liver cancer, cirrhosis, or liver 

failure, with liver cancer only having an 18 percent 5- 

year survival rate in the United States; 

Whereas safe and highly effective vaccines to protect against 

hepatitis B are currently available and infants and children have been routinely vaccinated against hepatitis B 

since the 1990s in accordance with universal childhood 

hepatitis B vaccination recommendations in the United 

States; 

Whereas the hepatitis B vaccine, which is 95 percent effective 

and was the first anticancer vaccine to be developed, is 

projected to prevent 310 million cases of hepatitis B 

worldwide from 1990 to 2020; 

Whereas only 25 percent of adults are vaccinated against 

hepatitis B in the United States; 

Whereas the number of reported acute hepatitis B cases increased by 20 percent nationwide in 2015, and there have 

been significant regional increases in acute hepatitis B 

cases in the United States as a result of the opioid epidemic, with Maine reporting a 729-percent increase in 

acute hepatitis B infections from 2015 to 2017, Kentucky, West Virginia, and Tennessee reporting a 114-percent increase from 2009 to 2013, southeastern Massachusetts reporting a 78-percent increase in 2017, and 


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North Carolina reporting a 62-percent increase from 

2012 to 2016; 

Whereas, according to the Centers for Disease Control and 

Prevention, hepatitis B is 50 to 100 times more infectious than HIV and 5 to 10 times more infectious than 

hepatitis C; and 

Whereas there are significant opportunities to prevent new 

hepatitis B infections and subsequently reduce the incidence of liver cancer and cirrhosis through efforts to increase adult hepatitis B vaccination and maintain childhood hepatitis B vaccination, particularly within the setting of the opioid epidemic: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 

2 (1) supports the designation of ‘‘National Adult 

3 Hepatitis B Vaccination Awareness Day’’; 

4 (2) recognizes the importance of providing sup5 port for individuals to be tested for hepatitis B, vac6 cinating those susceptible to hepatitis B, and linking 

7 to appropriate care those diagnosed with hepatitis B; 

8 and 

9 (3) encourages a commitment to increasing 

10 adult hepatitis B vaccination rates, maintaining 

11 childhood hepatitis B vaccination rates, and pro12 moting provider and community awareness of adult 

13 hepatitis B vaccination in order to reduce the num14 ber of new hepatitis B infections and hepatitis B-re15 lated deaths. 

Æ 


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