| R 360 |
| 2022 -- H 8105 Enacted 06/07/2022 |
| H O U S E R E S O L U T I O N |
| PROCLAIMING APRIL 4-10 OF 2022 TO BE NATIONAL PUBLIC HEALTH WEEK IN THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND |
Introduced By: Representatives Cassar, Shekarchi, Blazejewski, Kislak, McNamara, Serpa, Knight, Cortvriend, Tanzi, and Speakman |
| Date Introduced: April 06, 2022 |
| WHEREAS, The week of April 4-10, 2022, is National Public Health Week, and the |
| theme is "Public Health is Where You Are"; and |
| WHEREAS, Since 1995, the American Public Health Association, through its |
| sponsorship of National Public Health Week, has educated the public, policymakers and public |
| health professionals about issues important to improving the public's health; and |
| WHEREAS, United States life expectancy dropped from 2014 to 2017 in the longest |
| sustained decline since the Great Recession and only in 2018, began to increase again. United |
| States life expectancy then dropped again in 2020 by a full year, which is the largest drop in life |
| expectancy since 1943; and |
| WHEREAS, There is a significant difference in health status, such as obesity, poor |
| mental health and drug use, among people living in rural areas compared with people living in |
| urban areas, and this variance increases because rural residents are often more likely to face social |
| determinants that negatively impact health, such as poverty, transportation barriers and lack of |
| economic opportunity; and |
| WHEREAS, A person's health status can differ drastically by zip code due to differences |
| in the built environment, environmental quality, community context, access to healthy food, |
| access to education, and access to health care; and |
| WHEREAS, Public health professionals help communities prevent, prepare for, |
| withstand and recover from the impact of a full range of health threats, including disease |
| outbreaks such as the COVID-19 pandemic, measles, natural disasters, and disasters caused by |
| human activity; and |
| WHEREAS, Public health action, together with scientific and technological advances, |
| has played a major role in reducing and, in some cases, eliminating the spread of infectious |
| disease, and in establishing today's disease surveillance and control systems; and |
| WHEREAS, Preventable risk factors such as such as physical inactivity, poor nutrition, |
| tobacco use and excessive alcohol use are leading causes of chronic disease; and 6 in 10 United |
| States adults have a chronic disease and 4 in 10 have two or more; and chronic diseases cause 7 |
| of every 10 deaths annually in the United States; and |
| WHEREAS, The COVID-19 pandemic has illuminated and exacerbated racial inequities |
| and a growing number of local and state governments, and public health leaders have declared |
| racism a public health crisis; now, therefore be it |
| RESOLVED, That this House of Representatives of the State of Rhode Island hereby |
| commemorates April 4th through April 10th of 2022, as "National Health Week" and calls upon |
| the people of Rhode Island to use the observation of this week to help our families, friends, |
| neighbors, co-workers and leaders to better understand the value of public health and support |
| great opportunities to adopt preventive lifestyle habits in light of this year's theme, "Public Health |
| Is Where You Are"; and be it further |
| RESOLVED, That the Secretary of State be and hereby is authorized and directed to |
| transmit a duly certified copy of this resolution to the Acting Director James McDonald, MD, |
| MPH, Rhode Island Department of Health. |
| ======== |
| LC005606 |
| ======== |