2021 -- H 6195 | |
======== | |
LC002613 | |
======== | |
STATE OF RHODE ISLAND | |
IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY | |
JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2021 | |
____________ | |
H O U S E R E S O L U T I O N | |
COMMEMORATING THE WEEK OF APRIL 5TH THOUGH APRIL 11TH OF 2021, AS | |
"NATIONAL PUBLIC HEALTH WEEK" IN THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND | |
| |
Introduced By: Representatives Cassar, Shekarchi, Blazejewski, Kislak, Filippi, Fellela, | |
Date Introduced: April 06, 2021 | |
Referred To: House read and passed | |
1 | WHEREAS, The week of April 5th through April 11th of 2021, is National Public Health |
2 | Week, and the theme is "Building Bridges to Better Health"; and |
3 | WHEREAS, Since 1995, the American Public Health Association, through its |
4 | sponsorship of National Public Health Week, has educated the public, policymakers and public |
5 | health professionals about issues important to improving the public’s health; and |
6 | WHEREAS, Life expectancy in the United States dropped from 2014 to 2017, in the |
7 | longest sustained decline since the Great Depression and only in 2018, did life expectancy begin |
8 | to increase again. Further studies consistently show that the United States has a lower life |
9 | expectancy than comparable countries; and |
10 | WHEREAS, There is a significant difference in health status, such as obesity, poor |
11 | mental health, and drug use, among people living in rural areas compared with people living in |
12 | urban areas, and this variance increases because rural residents are often more likely to face social |
13 | determinants that negatively impact health, such as poverty, transportation barriers and lack of |
14 | economic opportunity; and |
15 | WHEREAS, Public health professionals help communities prevent, prepare for, |
16 | withstand, and recover from the impact of a full range of health threats, including disease |
17 | outbreaks such as the Covid-19 pandemic, measles, surveillance and control systems; and |
18 | WHEREAS, Public health action, together with scientific and technological advances, |
19 | has played a major role in reducing and, in some cases, eliminating the spread of infectious |
| |
1 | disease, and in establishing today’s disease surveillance and control systems; and |
2 | WHEREAS, Six in ten United States adults have a chronic disease and four in ten have |
3 | two or more, and health issues such as alcoholism, obesity and tobacco use are the primary reason |
4 | for seven of every ten deaths annually in the United States; and |
5 | WHEREAS, The Covid-19 pandemic has illuminated and exacerbated racial inequalities |
6 | and a growing number of local governments, state governments, and public health leaders have |
7 | declared racism a public health crisis; now, therefore be it |
8 | RESOLVED, That this House of Representatives of the State of Rhode Island hereby |
9 | commemorates the week of April 5th through April 11th of 2021, as "National Health Week" and |
10 | calls upon the people of Rhode Island to use the observation of this week to help our families, |
11 | friends, neighbors, co-workers and leaders to better understand the value of public health and |
12 | support great opportunities to adopt preventive lifestyle habits in light of this year’s theme, |
13 | "Building Bridges to Better Health"; and be it further |
14 | RESOLVED, That the Secretary of State be and hereby is authorized and directed to |
15 | transmit a duly certified copy of this resolution to Director Nicole-Alexander-Scott, MD, MPH, |
16 | Rhode Island Department of Health. |
======== | |
LC002613 | |
======== | |
| LC002613 - Page 2 of 2 |