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91_HB2856
LRB9105208SMdv
1 AN ACT regarding hepatitis C screening and awareness.
2 Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3 represented in the General Assembly:
4 Section. 1. This Act may be cited as the Hepatitis C
5 Screening and Awareness Act.
6 Section 5. Definition. As used in this Act:
7 "Department" means the Illinois Department of Public
8 Health.
9 Section 10. Education programs and resource
10 identification. The Department shall:
11 (1) Establish and promote hepatitis C education programs
12 as an integral part of its health promotion and disease
13 prevention efforts in order to raise public awareness,
14 educate consumers, and educate and train health care
15 professionals and human services providers.
16 (2) Identify resources for hepatitis C education,
17 screening, and treatment and coordinate the efforts of
18 existing organizations with new programs and with each other
19 so as to maximize education and access to services.
20 Section 15. Awareness, diagnosis, and treatment
21 strategies. The Department may use the following strategies
22 for raising public awareness of the causes, including
23 personal risk factors, and the nature of hepatitis C, the
24 value of prevention and early detection, and options for
25 diagnosing and treating the disease:
26 (1) An outreach campaign utilizing print, radio,
27 and television public service announcements,
28 advertisements, posters, and other materials.
29 (2) Community forums.
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1 (3) Health information and risk factor assessment
2 at public events.
3 (4) Targeting at-risk populations.
4 (5) Providing reliable information to policy
5 makers.
6 (6) Distributing information through local health
7 agencies, schools, employer wellness programs,
8 physicians, hospitals, health maintenance organizations,
9 prisons, sports leagues, nonprofit organizations,
10 community-based organizations, State fairs, and
11 Department and local public health offices.
12 (7) Identifying and obtaining educational
13 materials, including brochures and videotapes that
14 translate accurately the latest scientific information on
15 hepatitis C in easy-to-understand terms.
16 (8) Building a statewide capacity to provide
17 information and referrals on all aspects of hepatitis C,
18 including but not limited to, educational materials,
19 counseling, and patient support groups.
20 Section 20. Guidelines for diagnosis, treatment, and
21 therapeutic decision-making. The Department shall use the
22 strategies, protocols, and guidelines adopted by the National
23 Institutes of Health on hepatitis C for educating physicians
24 and health professionals and training providers on the most
25 recent scientific and medical information on hepatitis C
26 detection, diagnosis, treatment, and therapeutic
27 decision-making. The guidelines may include, but not be
28 limited to, the following:
29 (1) Tracking and reporting of both acute and
30 chronic cases of hepatitis C by public health officials.
31 (2) A cost-efficient plan to screen the prison
32 population.
33 (3) Protocols that may be used within the
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1 Department of Corrections to enable that Department to
2 provide appropriate treatment to prisoners with hepatitis
3 C.
4 (4) Protocols for the education of correctional
5 officers and other correctional workers who work with
6 prisoners with hepatitis C.
7 (5) Protocols for public safety and the problem of
8 health care workers who come in contact with hepatitis C
9 patients.
10 Section 25. Required hepatitis C screenings. The
11 following persons shall be screened for hepatitis C using the
12 most cost-efficient methods available and using generally
13 accepted protocols for screening:
14 (1) Psychiatric patients entering a State mental
15 health or developmental disabilities facility.
16 (2) Department of Corrections employees who come in
17 direct contact with prisoners.
18 (3) Prisoners entering State correctional
19 institutions or facilities.
20 (4) Employees of a State mental health or
21 developmental disabilities facility who come into direct
22 contact with patients of that facility.