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SUPPORTING A WOMEN'S HEALTH PLATFORM THAT RECOGNIZES SERIOUS INEQUITIES IN THE HEALTH PREVENTION AND TREATMENT OF WOMEN AND CALLS FOR THE ELIMINATION OF THESE INEQUITIES TO IMPROVE THE HEALTH STATUS OF WOMEN IN THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND INCLUDING THE ELIMINATION OF RACIAL AND ETHNIC HEALTH DISPARITIES IN THE RHODE ISLAND FEMALE POPULATION

WHEREAS, The State Government can increase its support for women's health and can make a significant difference in improving the status of women's health; and

WHEREAS, Women are different, metabolically, hormonally and physiologically from men and have different patterns of health and disease, and some diseases are more common in women than in men; and

WHEREAS, Women are more likely to suffer from chronic diseases - more than one in five women have some form of cardiovascular disease and one in two women will have an osteoporosis-related fracture in her lifetime; and

WHEREAS, Women are three times more likely to develop rheumatoid arthritis and two to three times more likely to suffer from depression; and

WHEREAS, Women are less often referred for diagnostic tests and less often treated for heart disease as compared to men; and

WHEREAS, Women, if they are smokers, are 20 - 70 percent more likely to develop lung cancer and ten times more likely than men to contract HIV during unprotected sex; and

WHEREAS, Women outnumber men three to one in long-term care facilities; and

WHEREAS, Women are much more likely to provide health care to family members and make health care decisions and spend two of every three health care dollars; and

WHEREAS, There is abundant evidence that women are under-treated compared to men; and

WHEREAS, There is abundant evidence that women are under-represented in women's health studies; and

WHEREAS, There has been some national attention on women's health care issues, and some legislative activity by the Congress on access issues, there remains little change in vitally important preventive care and treatment issues; and

WHEREAS, In a recent survey of voters, almost 80% of women and 60% of men favored a Women's Health Care Platform which supports relevant care, relevant research and relevant education for women; and

WHEREAS, Nine out of ten men and women agree that women have the right to access quality treatment and access to the latest technologies and appropriate diagnostic tests; now, therefore be it

RESOLVED, That this House of Representatives of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations hereby requests every state agency and state chartered institution of learning or recipient of state grants or funding to take appropriate action to achieve improved and equal access for women to quality health care, including:

• Provide women equal access to quality health care, including state-of-the-art medical advances and technology;
• Increase the number of women covered by comprehensive health care insurance including primary and preventive health care, for all women;
• Prevent serious health problems by timely diagnosis and treatment programs;
• Promote strategies to increase patient access to recommend diagnostic and screening tests, preventive health regimens and recommended treatments;
• Encourage unimpeded access to women's specialty health providers;
• Create and promote public/private partnerships to create programs designed to improve the scope and quality of women's health care;
• Improve communications between providers and patients;
• Continue to expand participation of women in clinical trials;
• Increase government and private research on women's health issues and the differences between men and women and how they impact quality health care;
• Conduct more health outcomes research to demonstrate the value of women's health care interventions and preventive health measures in both the long and short-term;
• Expand medical and nursing school curricula in the area of women's health; educate about gender biology;
• Support public education campaigns to increase women's awareness about their unique health risks, how to negotiate the complexities of today's health care system and demand/obtain the best care available;
• Conduct public health campaigns via state and local departments of public health with private sector partners to focus on key women's preventative health issues;
• Urge the establishment of permanent offices of women's health within state government to raise awareness of women's special health care needs and advocate initiatives to address them;
• Foster development and dissemination of publicly available information on the quality of health care and health outcomes that improve women's ability to choose the best women's health care plan; and
• Expand state screening programs targeted at lower-income women to include a full range of known risk factors; and be it further

RESOLVED, That it is the sense of this House of Representatives to commend the organization Women in Government for its leadership and enterprise in bringing to Rhode Island the appropriate urgency of need and meaningful steps that can be taken to attain the improved and equal access for women to quality health care, technologies and treatments; education of researchers about gender differences; and unimpeded access to women's health providers; and be it further

RESOLVED, That the Secretary of State be and he hereby is authorized and directed to transmit a duly certified copy of this resolution to the Executive Director of Women in Government, and the entire Rhode Island Congressional Delegation.