HR0758 102ND GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR0758 LRB102 26853 ECR 37896 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The Covid-19 pandemic has created a hidden epidemic of deferred care; and

WHEREAS, The widespread patient hesitancy to return to healthcare services combined with closed and limited availability of healthcare services during the pandemic has resulted in underdiagnosis and a gap in care, with missed opportunities to provide timely and appropriate treatments, consequently leading to increased chronic disability and mortality; and

WHEREAS, The long-term impact of the collateral negative effects of pandemic-related deferred care is staggering and may be felt for a generation; and

WHEREAS, A study reported in the New York Times found that blood pressure readings increased significantly from April 2020 through December 2020 compared with the same period in 2019; and

WHEREAS, Another study showed that while test volume for non-prescribed fentanyl fell during the early months of the pandemic and through 2020, the percentage of positive test results rose indicating that patients with Opioid Use Disorder were underdiagnosed during the early months of the pandemic and through 2020; and

WHEREAS, The pandemic has disrupted the utilization of women's preventive health services and may be associated with increased disparities in access to these services; a University of Michigan study found that rates of breast cancer screenings, cervical cancer screenings, and sexually transmitted infection screenings all significantly declined in 2020 compared with 2019; and

WHEREAS, Another study showed new diagnoses of eight common types of cancer declined by 46 percent during most of the first 13 months of the pandemic, and, according to data presented during the American Urological Association's 2021 Virtual Experience, weekly prostate cancer screening rates declined by as much as 43 percent during the COVID-19 pandemic; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE HUNDRED SECOND GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we declare March of 2022 as Back to Care Month in the State of Illinois to educate and promote patients to return to a routine of preventative care and screening.