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1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, The Covid-19 pandemic has created a hidden
3epidemic of deferred care; and
 
4    WHEREAS, The widespread patient hesitancy to return to
5healthcare services combined with closed and limited
6availability of healthcare services during the pandemic has
7resulted in underdiagnosis and a gap in care, with missed
8opportunities to provide timely and appropriate treatments,
9consequently leading to increased chronic disability and
10mortality; and
 
11    WHEREAS, The long-term impact of the collateral negative
12effects of pandemic-related deferred care is staggering and
13may be felt for a generation; and
 
14    WHEREAS, A study reported in the New York Times found that
15blood pressure readings increased significantly from April
162020 through December 2020 compared with the same period in
172019; and
 
18    WHEREAS, Another study showed that while test volume for
19non-prescribed fentanyl fell during the early months of the
20pandemic and through 2020, the percentage of positive test
21results rose indicating that patients with Opioid Use Disorder

 

 

HR0758- 2 -LRB102 26853 ECR 37896 r

1were underdiagnosed during the early months of the pandemic
2and through 2020; and
 
3    WHEREAS, The pandemic has disrupted the utilization of
4women's preventive health services and may be associated with
5increased disparities in access to these services; a
6University of Michigan study found that rates of breast cancer
7screenings, cervical cancer screenings, and sexually
8transmitted infection screenings all significantly declined in
92020 compared with 2019; and
 
10    WHEREAS, Another study showed new diagnoses of eight
11common types of cancer declined by 46 percent during most of
12the first 13 months of the pandemic, and, according to data
13presented during the American Urological Association's 2021
14Virtual Experience, weekly prostate cancer screening rates
15declined by as much as 43 percent during the COVID-19
16pandemic; therefore, be it
 
17    RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE
18HUNDRED SECOND GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that
19we declare March of 2022 as Back to Care Month in the State of
20Illinois to educate and promote patients to return to a
21routine of preventative care and screening.