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1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is a
3term used to describe airflow obstruction that is associated
4mainly with emphysema and chronic bronchitis; and
 
5    WHEREAS, COPD affects an estimated 24 million people and
6kills more than 120,000 Americans every year; on average, one
7person dies from COPD every 4 minutes, an alarming statistic
8for a disease many have not learned about; and
 
9    WHEREAS, In 2010, the National Center for Health Statistics
10released a report stating that in 2008 COPD became the third
11leading cause of death in the United States; and
 
12    WHEREAS, Pulmonary experts predict that, by the year 2020,
13COPD will become the 3rd leading cause of death worldwide; and
 
14    WHEREAS, COPD currently accounts for 1.5 million emergency
15room visits, 726,000 hospitalizations, and 8 million physician
16office and hospital outpatient visits, all of which are a
17detriment to the U.S. economy; COPD costs the nation an
18estimated $42.6 billion in direct and indirect medical costs
19annually; and
 
20    WHEREAS, COPD affects over 550,000 citizens of the State of

 

 

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1Illinois; the Illinois COPD Coalition, convened by the
2Respiratory Health Association, is implementing the State Plan
3for Addressing COPD in Illinois, a state-wide effort to
4increase early detection, improve care and treatment, and
5prevent and reduce the prevalence of the disease; and
 
6    WHEREAS, Research has identified a hereditary protein
7deficiency called Alpha-1 Antitrypsin; people with this
8deficiency tend to develop COPD, even without exposure to
9smoking or environmental triggers; and
 
10    WHEREAS, Recently, the death rate for women with COPD has
11surpassed the death rate of men with COPD; women over the age
12of 40 are the fastest-growing segment of the population
13developing this irreversible disease, due in large part to the
14equalization of opportunities for men and women to smoke over
15the past several generations; and
 
16    WHEREAS, There is currently no cure for COPD; spirometry
17testing and medical treatments exist to address symptom relief
18and possibly slow the progression of the disease; and
 
19    WHEREAS, Until there is a cure, the best approaches to
20preventing COPD and its considerable health, societal, and
21mortality impacts lie with education, awareness, and expanded
22delivery of detection and management protocols; therefore, be

 

 

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1it
 
2    RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
3NINETY-SEVENTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that
4we designate the month of November as COPD Awareness Month in
5the State of Illinois in recognition of this deadly disease and
6its effects on the citizens of this State.